You may be familiar with The Bob Lazar Story from such albums as Baritonia, Vanquisher, No Foodstool Left Behind, The Bob Lazarus Chronicles Pt1 : Foodstool Resurrection and from such reviews as Baritonia, Vanquisher, Ghost Of Foodstool and The Bob Lazarus Chronicles Pt1: Foodstool Resurrection.
The man behind The Bob Lazar Story, New Zealand resident Matt Deacon, reached out to me to see if I’d like to review his latest release, the second instalment of The Bob Lazarus Chronicles, The Bob Lazarus Chronicles Pt 2 : lo fi curly fries.
Matt eloquently sums up his artistry on his Bandcamp page:
“lo fi curly fries is the second part of The Bob Lazarus Chronicles”. So, it’s not just a clever name.
In reference to the conciseness of his tracks, Matt describes them as:
“snack size, and yet (the songs) feel quite substantial”.
We had a bit of a chat. It went something like this:
MD: Hey Phil
This code can download a new release from The Bob Lazar Story.
#### – ####
How about that?
A silly joke later…
PL: review under way.
MD: Haha (politely chuckling at the silly joke). Thanks.
PL: My pleasure. I love your stuff and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees. I mean, how dare they assume they know what I like better than me? Actually – that’s going in the review.
MD: This one’s quite different. All the songs started out the same. I recorded an improvised guitar part for up to a minute then filled the rest in with the piano roll function in Logic. So, they all sort of belong together.
This was an actual serious and interesting point. Matt possesses a rare level of musical prowess in the realms of creation, performance, and delivery. For example, I suspect he sometimes changes key halfway through a bar. In retrospect, Matt was offering me insight into his process, which I should have pursued. Anyone who call pull ideas like this out of his hat deserves praise. But I tried a bit too hard. Instead of pursuing this, I offered an opportunity for Matt to deny some juicy gossip about an alleged affair with Gal Gadot that I just made up. After all, scandal sells!
Matt wouldn’t get drawn into my seedy, yet fictitious World of Scandal. I must stress, though, he didn’t deny it. He did, however, offer this snippet of information:
MD: I used to be in a band with Liverpool lovely Sonia.
PL: THE SONIA?!
Not quite the News Of The World scandal I was looking for. But in retrospect, how often have we dismissed artists in the Pop world and paid little regard to the musicians behind them – artists who have talents hidden in plain sight? I continued…
PL: I absolutely love the ultra-short form song format. It is so refreshing after hearing some of the stuff we get sent at TPA. I get why some bands want to be like their heroes, but I value originality far more than emulation.
I asked Matt if he’d mind me sharing our exchange.
MD: Do as you will and more importantly thanks for listening.
We exchanged pleasantries and returned to our own lives.
Back in the review…
The music of The Bob Lazar Story is a breath of fresh air. It co-exists, probably in the same spacetime continuum as you, though just out of phase with the one you already live in. I always enjoy going there and Matt always leaves me wanting more.
All this for $2USD! Should you buy it? Well, I already own Part 1, I am therefore contractually obligated (wink). Even if I wasn’t kidding about the contractual obligation – this is a brief and wonderful journey to a musical World devoid of Prog “wankery”, with its own blend of “tritonal wankery” – not my three words, the three words of Matt Deacon his very self.
In all seriousness, I urge you to check out his Bandcamp page and the other reviews of this musical entity. If you’re new to The Bob Lazar Story, and really want to dine on progressive and unique music, then this is an 11 minute selection of hors d’oeuvres that could well lead to a mini banquet that you can lay out on your own foodstool. And if you do, then – strangely, the whole menu might just start to make sense!
TRACK LISTING
01. First (1:01)
02. No Thanks (0:26)
03. Febulous (1:04)
04. Gridlock (0:40)
05. Frevor Rayburn (0:30)
06. No 25 (0:15)
07. Barrytown (0:39)
08. marvellous (1:11)
09. Nithing Fer U (0:48)
10. No Pops (1:39)
11. foodstool vs dronestool (2:49)
Total Time – 11:02
MUSICIANS
Matt Deacon – Guitars, Lap Steel Guitar, Mouse
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Independent
Country of Origin: New Zealand
Date of Release: 14th May 2024