Seeking out Peach Of Immortality

Having a few months back procured an elusive copy of Peach Of Immortality sole "proper" album as it were, the sardonically titled Talking Heads '77, I have been fascinated and transfixed by the motivations of Tom Smith (instigator and mastermind of the ingenious To Live And Shave In L.A.) regarding his second band (following the similarly elusive Boat Of), particularly how distinct an entity POI appear to be from Smith's idiosyncratic and singular work in TLASILA. Myself having been converted years back to TLASILA by their opus The Wigmaker In Eighteenth Century Williamsburg, as demented and ecstatic a listening experience as one is privy to come by (seriously, there's no turning back after experiencing this behemoth), I've always been intrigued when coming by mention of POI's under-documented existence.

While having operated in various forms of membership throughout the bulk of the 80's, the POI on the aforementioned TH77 LP from 1985 is at first notice much more restrained and studied that one might be used to from Smith, this prospect being especially arresting when one takes into account the splatter-punk-noise collages of TLASILA's 90's output (i.e. Vedder Vedder Bedwetter and "Helen Butte" Vs. Masonna Pussy Badsmell). On this particular recording, Smith and his collaborators (guitarist Jared Hendrickson and cellist Rogelio Maxwell) weave in and out of each other's aural space with distinct patience but concurrently with enough spontaneous unrest as to make for sessions that stand as anything but passive. A couple years ago, the Dead C joked that they were "The AMM Of Punk Rock" on their Future Artists LP, and I almost feel that moniker would make logical sense with POI, especially relating Smith's spasmodic tape abuse in this project which compares distinctly with the radio manipulation on AMMMusic.

As befitting the elusive nature of the 80's avant underground, POI recorded a plethora of material intended for releases that dishearteningly never saw the light of day. Here's hoping Smith or another passionate soul revisits these down the line. In the meantime, the glory of YouTube has some vintage footage of the crew in action:

The TH77-era configuration live on Arlington, VA public access, 1985:

A more "aggro" configuration performing at the D.C. institution 9:30 Club in 1987:

Comments

[BSI]

HEH! Didn't expect to see that name here. If Peach is worthy of legend, we need to send the archaeologists below the topsoil of DC to ensure that the legacy of Psychodrama and New Carrollton are up there as well, in the Hall of Champions....... They seem to be the Big Three upon which this mighty local church was built. Righteous.

[Mark Greenberg]

I sold my copy, which I'd bought new in the early 80s along with the "REM is Air Supply" 12" in '99 when I was leaving the US for good, for work...I came back...I miss all my old records, several of which never made it to CD or youtube...great post!!!
Mark Greenberg, Atlanta, GA

[Tom Smith]

The second "proper" POI album was 1986's Jehovah My Black Ass - R.E.M. Is Air Supply. (Full-length, not a 12", even though we packaged it as such.) Agree with BSI regarding suburban faux-Nazi hillbillies Psychodrama and New Carrolton. PD were a little too obvious for me, but still tended toward a rigorous sort of dementia on their cassette releases. NC were straddling existing industrial tropes, but often very impressive. There was also Rick and Mike and Bill, who were black ops tape manipulators. Their Rick replaced me as Pussy Galore's junk percussionist after my departure from that august cabal in February 1986 (and before Bob Bert stepped in.) Early Bad Brains were pretty avant-garde too!

[BSI]

The thing that complicates Psychodrama's legacy is that once Rob started recording 'em, it was clear that a great mind was at work, studio-wise. He was able to elevate wacky noise tantrums to a better place, technically. ..... anyway. One day the definitive history will be written! Good to see this post. etc.

[kitty magic]

here is there discography listed: http://www.discogs.com/artist/peach+of+immortality i'm hoping some of those old VHS releases will one day turn up for sale!

[Tom Smith]

That's a necessarily limited discog, Kitty. We made (literally, and laterally) dozens of albums. Back in that time, however, it was very difficult to DIY if you didn't want to go the cassette route. We resigned ourselves to the limitations. One of these days, the older material will escape. (And there'll probably be a KSV reissue of the Succumbs video in 2012.)