#robert's lafitte

Robert’s Lafitte, apparently named for a Texas gay bar, collects the entirety of all three of Blue Dolphin’s mid-teens cassette recordings and adds four new songs. It’s the whole catalog of a band that barely left an internet trace. Guitarist Barry Elkanick has the longest CV, including stints in Institute and Chalk. Cody Phifer, the drummer, held a similar role in Chronophage for a few albums. The two women are harder to track down, but the source of much of the band’s crazed, B-52s-on-crack appeal. Candice Metalier punches out antic, giddily hoppable bass lines, while Sissy kicks in the manic, magic words.

“Licking and Kissing,” the title cut from Blue Dolphin’s first cassette, is a twangy, rockabilly, pogostick, jumping up and down frantically for two eventful minutes. Elkanick plays like a bluegrass picker on the lam, while Metalier thumps a “Shave and a haircut, two bits” riff on bass. Sissy is intoning something about “Two Pairs of Hands, while the drums push frantically, maniacally, from the rear.

“Natural Child,” one of Two New Songs from the second cassette, runs both slower and thicker, with dense, dissonant guitar sound and rolling explosions of drums. It’s less cow punk and more garage punk and might sound a bit like Elkanick’s Institute, except for the high, rhythmic chant of Sissy.

That seems to be the narrative arc, since the four new songs are notably slower and more exploratory than the cassette material.  “Virginal Mystery” by far the longest cut at 3:51, adds the twinkle of harp to its buzzing distortion. “Ravaged by the Stars” is more like sound collage than punk rock. But “Buying Time” blisters and thunders, an alienated sing-song of “We take the wheel” adding a jaunty insanity.  

It’s not really clear how much traction Blue Dolphin every got, or how they fit into the universe of Texas punk rock bands or even whether the project continues beyond this career summary. It’s an antic, invigorating ride, however, and worth tapping if only for the adrenaline hit.