#1 Album of 2003 - CD101
Independent Playground
(one of the) Top 5 Albums of 2003 - KDHX
No Show
(one of the) Top 5 Albums of 2003 - Agouti
Music
The Phantom Limbs were voted best "Rock" Band in San Francisco
2003 by the SF
Weekly!
Lead vocalist Hopeless has honed his unsettling,
unforgettable, strangled howl, imbuing even seemingly innocuous
line[s] with undiluted demon's breath; Mike Klösoff hammers the
skins with imposing, fascistic precision… Jason Miller's guitar
[is] at once villainous, hallucinatory, and disconcertingly familiar
… and organist Stevenson Sedgwick lords over them all, stomping
up and down on his keyboard, as if he were really on loan from
hell.
- Silke Tudor - SF Weekly 9/03/2003
I dare you to ignore this band.
- AMP Online
straight-up goth-punk-n-roll with hauntingly carnivalesque organ
sounds to sweep everything together… a perfect combo.
-Punk Planet
As a follow-up to the band's 2001 debut, "Applied Ignorance",
this record takes the Limbs morbid, creepy style to a higher plane-or
possibly to a deeper level of Hades… Like many Alternative
Tentacles acts, the Limbs take an atypical approach to their genre.
Horror rock is not simply songs about monsters and ghoulies. This
rock is about the horror of daily living, the sick truth inside
people, and the terrifying realities that confront people every
day.
-
Philadelphia Weekly Press
Mixing elements of goth, 77' street punk, and a healthy dose of
blood soaked death rock The Phantom Limbs manage to stamp their
own unique style into every song.
- Cincypunk.com
The Limbs' latest, "Displacement," features the style
this five-piece has down cold - '80s synths, goth overtones, grinding
guitars and the talk-sing spookiness of vocalist Loto Ball. The
danceable rhythms on songs like "Castanets Cookie" and
"Ear to the Ground" give a dose of fun to mostly dark,
discordant mediations on fringe life. The Limbs' off-kilter music
suggests J.G. Ballard or William Burroughs writing the lyrics
for one of those NYC dance-punk bands - except it's less pretentious
and more truly visceral.
-
Reno Gazette-Journal 10/23/03
These Limbs redefine Kant's definition of enlightment in a radically
cynical way.
- Toilet Paper Zine #7, Germany
Claustrophobic, gloomy, intense, and oddly catchy these boys are,
infusing their tunes with just enough art to throw things outta
whack but not so much that it dilutes the rock. Reminds me of
all the things I love about punk.
- Razorcake
the Limbs keep you surprised and guessing at every turn. Those
of you who are keen on the recent surge of evil new-wave in America
(i.e. Lost sounds, Vanishing) will absolutely love this record.
- Tablet
- - - Other Reviews - - -
Having all the excitement of early SF punk, but
with the modern smarts of applying a dark, almost goth angle to
the music … both incredibly rocking/dancy and cryptic spooky.
-Sincere Brutality
With the most garish show tactics since Suidice, a Phantom Limbs
show is a morbid cross between Kabuki, B horror films, and sweaty
punk rock.
- Cleveland Free Times, June 2002
The Phantom Limbs could not have chosen their appellation more
carefully. Squalling about forgone appendages and carnival nightmares,
lead singer Hopeless is the skeletal storyteller with the self-destructive
vocal chords who propels the Limbs' rock 'n' roll monster, but
it is Stevenson Sedgwick's amphetamine-driven chapel organ that
gives the Limbs soul. This is rock music found in the depths of
a catacomb and brought to shuddering, swirling life by Dr. Frankenstein's
electrical psychosis. Thus amply fueled by static and doom, the
Phantom Limbs tear apart old men and innocent babes with snarling
rhythms and lurching melodies, both maddening and thrilling to
those who have outgrown punk rock and goth but still shroud themselves
in grainy black-and-white.
-Silke Tudor - SF Weekly, Jan
2, 2002
Oakland's organ-grinding Phantom Limbs are the violent, vengeful
ghosts of punk and deathrock past, screaming their rotten-soul
rage in your face with some seriously malicious intent. Demented
circus synths. Doomtown vocals. Drunken insanity. Fear it.
- Wilamette Week
(Portland OR) - March 21, 2002
Best Records of 2001 - Applied Ignorance
Say what you want about jello biafra,but he's got a great ear,
signing the causey way and now the phantom limbs. their music
is completely original, with funeral keyboards, a screamy singer
and some kind of new wave punk rock thing holding it all together
… If you caught them at one of their first shows at the stork
club, no doubt you stood agape at the skinny singers writhing
around with the stoic band behind him, wailing about someone's
lost arm … seeing how this band progresses will be one of
the great things about living in the east bay..
-East
Bay Express, 11/21/01
The Phantom Limbs' manic appeal lies in the contrast between Sedgwick
and Skot's complex interplay of keyboard lines -- which manage
to sound both frantic and eerie -- and Hopeless' yowls, which
possess the crazed urgency of a condemned soul being dragged,
lungs first, into purgatory.
- Kimberly Chun SFGate.com, December
27, 2001
The Phantom Limbs straddle areas between the typically divergent
art, punk, and death rock genres with uncanny success that's due
not only to the songs themselves, but the way the songs are performed
live. . . With ample opportunity for everyone to see this phenomenal
live show, it would be a shame if one were to miss the prickly
sensation of this particular type of phantom limb (pun wholly
intended).
- Performer Magazine, January
2002
When it comes to finding a good show in San Francisco,
you can't miss with the Phantom Limbs
-
San Francisco Bay Guardian 11/21/01
Applied Ignorance LP/CD Review:
Totally fucked up and creepy as hell. Second coming of CHRISTIAN
DEATH, perhaps? I love this record and it doesn't make any sense
to me 'cause it sounds nothing like DISCHARGE. Distorted, twisted
and the perfect soundtrack to my nightmares.
-
Maximum RockNRoll, November 2001 #222
Applied Ignorance LP/CD Review:
Wow, this is crazy! Sounds like early American punk-wave stuff
circa 78-80 revved up for the new millennium. Very busy musically
with strong hooks and a rocking base to which multiple keyboards
and effects are applied with outstanding results. I can see this
crossing over a wide variety of genres with punk, surf, electronic
and noise influences all thrown in the blender and set on puree
with some desperate, manic vocals topping the whole thing off.
Man, I bet they KILL live - GREAT ALBUM!
-
Suburban Voice #45
Applied Ignorance LP/CD Review:
After a 7", a Split-7" and a fine Videocassette, here
is finally THE PHANTOM LIMBS´ first complete album, out
on Vinyl and CD on the legendary Alternative Tentacles label,
which gave us many classic records for many years. I am not surpised,
that "Applied Ignorance" is a great album, full of trashy
songs between Death- and Punk-Rock. As always, the songs get their
unique sound from singer Hopeless´ unbeatable voice, which
reminds me a lot on the singer of Germany´s strange Punkband
Novotny TV (which would fit great into the program of Alternative
Tentacles, I think). Of course there are also the sounds of the
Organ and the the powerful Guitars, I love so much. Well, THE
PHANTOM LIMBS could possibly be described as the missing link
between the Misfits and 45 Grave on one side and early 80s The
Damned on the other.
- Back Again
Magazine, Germany
Applied Ignorance LP/CD Review:
Hard core keyboards ….a crazy battle of sound; … I don't
know who's gonna win, But you better stick around for the show,
it's gonna be a hot one...
-
Primal Chaos
Applied Ignorance LP/CD Review:
Ominous keyboards, sporadic guitar interjections, and shrieking
detached vocals coalesce into this severed, disjointed tribute
to isolation. Conjuring images of early 1940's horror cinema and
roadside circus magicians, this album displays a wide array of
emotions, elements and dramatic effects ... As the album progresses,
the significance of the title Applied Ignorance becomes apparent
with each resonating scream and furious guitar riff. Each song
is flooded with a morose perspective on the futility of life and
the feeling of the fruitlessness of our every thought and action.
The "all is lost" approach and the meritorious message
of our society's gradual moral decay is rampant throughout this
album. . .
Applied Ignorance is an album that achieves both tranquility and
vivid ferocity with equal ardor. It is an energetic piece of art
that will awaken the senses and overthrow the overabundant preconceptions
that the nature of punk holds. Strong and ineffable, this album
should not be ignored as its position on suppression is one that
should not fall on deaf ears. A menage a trois of musicality,
indifference, and obstinance; Applied Ignorance redefines punk
as a genre, feeling and state of mind.
- FMsound.com (Click for Full Review)
These krazy Alternative Tentacles-approved [gods]
play maniacal, carnivalesque punk that reimagines the Screamers
as an insane fun-house soundtrack, complete with gouts of organs
and gut-punch screams in place of vocals. A reputation for literally
in-your-face performances precedes them, so expect to get messy.
(This means you, too, Li'l Miss Vampirella who takes three hours
to put on makeup.)
- Wilamette Week
(Portland OR) - Oct. 26th, 2001
In contrast to usual practice, the Limbs' music
is keyboard- and percussion-driven; guitarist Miller uses his
guitar as an accent rather than as the main instrument. The funereal
keyboards and Klösoff's rhythmic banging (a notch down in
energy from his work with the Scurvy Dogs, but that's a proportionally
irrelevant measure) hold the songs together tenuously, and vocalist
Hopeless' yowling is strikingly reminiscent of Darby Crash's howled
mutterings. The lyrics make no mention of politics, nihilism,
or nonconformity, but are dark and fragmented stories that, in
fact, bear a remarkable resemblance to those of the Birthday Party
. . .Needless to say, the live show is where it's at. Proponents
of the Bay Area "stand and nod" school of audience reaction
should stay well back to avoid bruises, spilled beer, and the
occasional head-butt from an overly avid fan. You'll end up reeking
and in pain, but blurred memories of spastic joy should last at
least until your ears stop ringing.
-East
Bay Express, 8/22/01
The phantom limbs take a melodic approach to punk,
but set it to eerie, grinding keyboards farfisa organ style, like
a Baptist sermon from hell. The singer's voice is fittingly desperate
and high energy to match the frantic pace of the songs. The keys
are the most compelling I've ever heard in a punk band, reminiscent
of the Dwarves garage punk days, but this is far more dirgey.
The frantic funeral pace of the keyboards meets somewhere in the
middle of that and a carnival sideshow. This is really a great
band.
-
DeathRock.Com (Click for Full Review)
Fleshies / Limbs Split 7" Review:
The Phantom Limbs side of this slicks up their live show slightly,
but you don't lose anything--my desire to see that singer freak
out again is simply restoked. I never got to see NERVOUS GENDER
so these guys'll do nicely. Oh. yeah, buy this.
Maximum
RockNRoll, July 2001 #218
Hot Knives and Hornets 7" Review:
This is the first release from this awesome East Bay band. They
sound a lot like the SCREAMERS, I think mostly due to being heavily
keyboard driven and with similar vocals, although they are darker
and more melodic. "Hot Knives and Hornets" starts out
with heavy keyboards and drums--it sounds like a man getting chased
down a hole by a swarm of wasps. It reminds me of a new wave RUDIMENTARY
PENI. "Shake a Baby" starts out with a dizzy piano solo
thet sounds like glasses falling down stairs, like the singer's
left wandering drunkenly after getting thrown from the ferris
wheel. The chorus especially repeats "You were supposed to
land gracefully, but you fell on your face." My favorite
song, "Murder Us Windpipes" is the dance infection hit.
It is so heavy and tragic. "Murder us windpipes, we don't
belong, strung about, prying in...knocking me down."
Maximum
RockNRoll, March 2001 #214
The Phantom Limbs are a new wave circus: a garagey, operatic
hurdy-gurdy with a really strange singer named Hopeless and a
guitarist named Captain Phantom. Their music's just got something,
and we have big hopes for this band, whose "Somebody Twisted
Your Arms" was one of the best songs we heard last year.
- East
Bay Express, March 23, 2001
Live Review
... add in a goodly amount of '77-style aggression and a carnival
atmosphere, and you've got the idea. A well-fused guitar and rhythm
section pounded out sharp, punk-inspired garage rock while the
keyboard player took it all to another level with a dirge of "Sister
Ray"-ish flights and stuttering carny jacks. The words "funeral"
and "carnival" appear in pretty much everything anybody writes
about these guys, but actually it's "funeral" as in Drunks with
Guns and "carnival" as in Satan playing a little cat and mouse
with your brain before he melts it.
-
San Francisco Bay Guardian (Click for Full Review)
Effectively using distressed organ music (via
keyboards) with maniacal tempos, this band's crazed lack of stability
gives it a freaky funhouse vibe.
- San Jose
Metro May 17-23, 2001
Hot Knives and Hornets 7" Review:
Hot on the heels of their wonderful demo comes more surreal dementia
from those loveable Limbs. This has three songs, the best being
the live favorite "Shake-a-Baby." Don't forget to yell
out "STAY IN YOUR PLACE!" when listening to this. It
also has the delightful 'Hot Knives and Hornets," which appeared
on their demo and the calmer "Murder Us Windpipes."
Comes decked out in a lavish package, which is covered with Hopeless'
disturbing, brilliant artwork.
People
Under No King, April 2001 #8
Hot Knives and Hornets 7" Review:
The Debut 7" from this great San Francisco gloomy punk band
comes on sickly green vinyl with three equally sick tracks. 'Hot
Knives and Hornets' is from the demo CD - an outstanding feverish
dirge and a showcase of insanity. The vocals are just one of the
coolest features about this band. They are similar to the germs
but much more aggressive than the classic pandering of Darby Crash.
The most distinctive feature however is the organ. It plays a
major part in the music, above the guitars, which play in sync
to the organs. Next is the bass, a weird amalgamation of fuzz
distortion. The organ is played in a classic showtune carnival
style, but twisted to create a highly disturbed sound. Two new
songs are introduced as well - 'Shake-a-Baby' and 'Murder us Windpipes'
grace the b-side and are just as good. As if the disorienting
strangeness of the music weren't enough, the cacophonous Phantom
Limbs lyrics read like cut-ups. They draw you in and bewilder
as the music draws in for the kill. The accompanying artwork sleeve
and insert is by the singer, and fit the band like a glove. Surreal
and dark. Lyrics are included. Required listening.
- DeathRock.com
Eine CD, die dem Begriff Death Rock wohl von
allen hier beschriebenen am nahsten ist. Abgedrehter, kreischender
Gesang, albtraumhafte Jahrmarkmusik, treibendes Schlagzeug, traurig
klingendes Klavier, und immer wieder VERZWEIFLUNG! Einfach irre!
- Necrogoth
Magazine, Germany
The band’s nightmarish punk/ midway-carnival music
is legitimately spooky, with its organ-like keys and hauntingly
mumbled vocals
- S.A.
Lamb, East Bay Express
I'm afraid I really can't follow that well if
it comes to American band The Phantom Limbs. I tell you why…,
this Oakland-based band are planning to release their debut album
on Alternative tentacles which is the record label of ex-Dead
Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra and comparisons that are already
have been made are referring to bands like The Screamers or The
Dwarves. OK, I'm not someone who know these bands that well but
for me The Phantom Limbs are more having the sound of goth legends
like Sex Gang Children or even a bit The Virgin Prunes. OK, it's
just a stupid categorisation and it really isn't that important
after all but what surely is the case is that The Phantom Limbs
are making very dark alternative guitar music which is driven
by very heavy keyboard sounds and a gothic-like voice. It's all
a bit crazy and at times it's like they're making a carnival out
of a funeral but definitely very good.
-
Original Sin #34, Belgium
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