Centro-matic: Redo The Stacks

     In my recent Record Store Day post I aired several grievances, one of which was Centro-matic's Redo The Stacks being a limited regional release. I was so amped when it was leaked as a RSD release. It was the only Centro-matic full length I didn't have and I'd only heard four songs from the album by scouring the interwebs. So, when it was announced as a limited release I thought I was screwed. Thankfully, more copies were produced and my friend Mike hooked me up. I've immersed myself in the record for a few days and it has cemented Will Johnson as my favorite songwriter of all time. It has also confirmed Redo The Stacks to be the lo-fi masterpiece I had long suspected it to be.
     According to the liner notes, it was recorded in typical 90's lo-fi fashion at drummer Matt Pence's house in Denton in 1996-7 "on everything from tape recorders to machines with fancy L.E.D. displays". The opening track, "The Pilots On The Wall", could easily fit on GbV's lo-fi classic Bee Thousand. Pavement's influence is in evidence on the song "My Super-Model Girlfriend Gone AWOL". The rest of Redo The Stacks is vintage Centro-matic. It's fuzzed out and ramshackled with big drums and great lyrics. And there's plenty of ambient background noise for which I'm a huge sucker. Sonically, it's very similar to their 1999 rarities album The Static vs. The Strings, Vol. 1., which was comprised of songs recorded between 1996 and 1998. In fact, it included three songs from the Redo The Stacks sessions (Who's Telling You Now?, D. Boon-Free and Now That You Have Blown Away The Cards).
     As I mentioned before, I knew a few songs from Redo The Stacks. "Am I The Manager Or Am I Not?" and "Fidgeting Wildly" are part of the Centro-matic canon and I found "Post-it Notes From The State Hospital" and "Rock And Roll Eyes" on You Tube. I love the lyrics of "Post-it Notes". The narrator of the song has been committed and is apparently deluded about how long his stay will be. "It's a new arrangement/ if only you'd arrange to get me out in a week/ now I stagger through halls and sleep in some room/ checking off calendars 'cause you're coming soon". Another stand-out track is the beautiful Will Johnson ballad "Starfighter #1479". It's apparently a song about playing a video game because he mentions bonus points, quarters and credits, but it sounds very epic and heroic. There are 23 songs on this album and they are all varying degrees of awesome. There is nary a turd to be found. I was already recommending Centro-matic to my kids, but they MUST begin with Redo The Stacks. If they don't love it I will have failed as a father:) I don't remember if I've already posted a list of my favorite songwriters, but this is my current list. Peace.

1) Will Johnson
2) Robert Pollard
3) Tobin Sprout
4) Mark Linkous
5) Stephen Malkmus
6) Neil Finn
7) Jimi Goodwin
8) Gerard Love
9) Tommy Keene
10) Glen Phillips
11) David Kilgour
12) Evan Dando
13) John K. Samson
14) J. Mascis
15) John Darnielle
16) Bill Janovitz
17) Jason Lytle
18) E
19) Bob Mould
20) Ray Davies