ROMAINE NOGGIN EP (1999)
Four Westicles together in one room. 1849 (Family Singalong) is what it’s all about.
I sing about getting caught playing doctor on the stairs, Uncle Brian sings about impotence and kilts, Grandpa sings about going to Detroit and forgetting to bring Brian back some cabbage rolls, and Johnny Smith is mostly inaudible because he’s standing in the doorway without a microphone, though he does contribute some harmonica and atmosphere. There’s a bit of Czech in there as well, and about six or seven different improvised songs trapped inside of twelve minutes.
It ends up sounding something like an excerpt from a twisted broadway musical or some kind of insane dinner theatre, unlike anything else I’ve ever done with anyone. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to it without breaking into a laughing fit at some point. Grandpa even hits some nice high notes, and he was no spring chicken.
Little Laura Lee doesn’t operate at the same level of inventive lunacy, and I don’t sing at all on that one, but it does have some nice bits of insanity from Uncle Brian. And you’ve got Johnny Smith singing about nose hair, which is always a plus.
I thought a whole album would come out of this someday (Uncle Brian would play the bugle!). It never did, but at least we’ve got these two tracks.
TRACKS:
1849 (Family Singalong)
Little Laura Lee
LISTEN:
Dressing to Undress 