#21-645

21-645 - Babble

About a year ago I interviewed Michael Cudahy, one of the founders of Boston art-punk label/collective Propeller Records, because I was obsessed with this 21-645 song "Babble." So click on that and read it at some point because Michael had some really interesting things to say about the small post-punk/art-punk scene that was going on in the early-'80s in Boston, while the emerging hardcore scene led by SS Decontrol held the town by the throat. 

Unfortunately, 21-645 didn't have much recorded output though there is a radio performance lurking on the web somewhere, because "Babble" is such a springy, bouncy, catchy track. It's like Mission of Burma for people that want to be in a good mood and think about partying more than politics. 

When I listen to Mission of Burma, numbers float around my head and I often feel like I've been shrunken down like Rick Moranis and teleported into an alternate universe where everything looks like it was designed by Kurt Schwitters. It's awesome, but it's not fun--even their song "Fun World" is about getting kicked in the head.

Prior to the 2000s it was common for a good musical idea to start in Boston only to bail on the city for a place that could digest it easier. It's the reason Mission of Burma were considered obscure for so many years, while Thurston Moore became the face of whatever he's the figure of.