YIP-YIP
Two Kings Of The Same Kingdom
SAF19
S.A.F. Records 2008
12 Tracks. 24min09sec

There was a time, namely the 1970s, when analog synthesizers were a very new and volatile instrument for rock music and its derivations.The advent of more portable and affordable synthesizers meant that small-time renegade groups with nothing to lose got their hands on these messes of transistors, eventually developing into very interesting records, from Pere Ubu to Gary Newman to The Normal. Such oddball use of analogue gear weren’t long for the semi-mainstream, as the eighties ushered in an era of sequencers and digital synthesis, while synthpop groups produced meticulously edited studio masterpieces, ditching much of the grit. Even the likes of Cabaret Voltaire moved closer to the dance floor. Picking up the avant garde, warts-and-all spirit of pioneering synth-punkers are Yip-Yip, a Florida-based duo consisting of Brian Esser and Jason Temple, whose gear list (included here in the otherwise-sparse liner notes) is a treasure-trove of analogue (and cheap digital) history. Continue Reading »