1. Baby It’s the Best (2:55)
2. Chicago Charlemagne (2:35)
3. Who’s Who (2:18)
4. FN Rat (3:25)
5. Grass (2:07)
6. Ibex Club (2:05)
7. Name Names (3:11)
8. Burgers and Fries (3:07)
9. I Live in a Dream (2:30)
10. Pick Up The Phone and Ball (2:05)
11. Family Cong (1:41)
12. Weird War (1:13)
13. Man Is Money (2:38)

Weird War: Jessica Espeleta, Ian Svenonius, Neil Michael Hagerty, Michelle Mae, Steve McCarty. 

…WEIRD WAR…
Weird War were described as a “supergroup” when laying this debut on the world in 2002 — their eponymous debut featured Jessica Espeleta (of Sub Pop Act Love As Laughter), Michelle Mae & Ian Svenonius (of the Make Up), Steve McCarty (later of Dead Meadow) & Neil Michael Hagerty (formerly of Royal Trux). Weird War released a ‘I’ll Never Forget What’s His Name’ in 2001 with a line-up that included former Golden/late period Make Up member Alex Minoff — see ‘Colonel Jeffrey Pumpernickel: A Concept Album’ on Off (also features Guided By Voices, Stephen Malkmus, Quasi & The Minus 5). Strangely, the group had a dream and changed their name to Scene Creamers for 2003’s ‘I Suck on That Emotion’, adding Blake Brunner on drums (…who would later be replaced by Sebastian Thomson). ‘Weird War’ is the only album from this line-up, though to cloud things further, the next WW record ‘If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Bite ‘Em’ featured Hagerty’s partner from Royal Trux, Jennifer Herrema in her JJ Rox-persona. 

…ACCELERATOR…
Following career peak ‘Accelerator’, Royal Trux released more primal/garage rock/blues-based records like ‘Pound for Pound’ and ‘Veterans of Disorder’ — some great stuff on those, notably ‘Witches’ Tit’ and ‘Blue is the Frequency’, but the more adventerous sound of ‘Accelerator’ was lacking — what sounded like the missing link between MBV and the Stones (…territory nicked by Primal Scream and a Brian Wilson-era Kevin Shields for ‘Accelerator’ on their ‘Xtrmntr’ LP). The last Make Up album ‘Save Yourself’ (1999) was fantastic stuff too — so I guess ‘Weird War’ sounds like that Make Up LP multiplied by ‘Accelerator.’ Yes, ‘Liar’ x ‘White Belts’…

…PUSSY GALORE…
Weird War is great as it seems to centre around Hagerty — whose guitars and vocals trade brilliantly with singer Svenonius — Espeleta, Mae & McCarty holding down the background (though some lovely backing vocals pop up to — there’s lots of a kind of Stones-chanting or rapping). As was evident in the career of the Make Up, Svenonius had dropped the overtly political lyrics associated with Nation of Ulysses — ’13 Point Plan to Destroy America.’ I’m pretty sure that Hagerty, when in Pussy Galore with Jon Spencer & co, objected to the whole Dischord/Straight Edge thing — Pussy Galore’s ‘Dial M for Motherfucker’ in many ways predicting the Make Up. The more avant stuff Hagerty did — Pussy Galore’s groundbreaking cover of Einsturzende Neubauten’s ‘Yu Gung (Futter Mein Ego)’ (which partly sampled the original) or Royal Trux’s ‘Twin Infinitives’ did play into later, more commercially sounding records. That was the case with parts of ‘Accelerator’ and ‘Sweet Sixteen’, and is definitely evident here — personally I found ‘Pound for Pound’ a bit disappointing, while ‘Veterans of Disorder’ like the earlier ‘Thank You’ was great stuff, but not really showcasing Hagerty’s more experimental skills with guitar noise. Perhaps it was the change, but Hagerty here completely tops late Royal Trux, why is it that this album and ‘Woke on a Whaleheart’ with Bill Callahan are much more enjoyable than the Howling Hex material (which seems more hit and miss = perhaps the dude is too prolific?)?

…THE MAKE UP…
There are strains of the Make Up’s so-called ‘gospel yeh-yeh’ sound — ‘Weird War’ sounds to me both commercial and experimental, which I guess is the reason why I’m comparing to ‘Accelerator’? Some of the songs definitely sound like the Make Up — ‘Pick Up the Phone and Ball’ having a tight/wired blaxploitation-Impressions-guitar sound — Svenonius, phones and sex seem to be quite a frequent feature. There was that great version of ‘Hey Joe’ by the Make Up where Mae & Svenonius spoke on the phone and she convinced him to return from Mexico to the bedroom. & there was the later ‘Tess’ by the later WW line-up where Svenonius sings, “I want to call you/I want to ball you…” — which is charming where I reside and the kind of thing you wished Iggy Pop could still come out with…

…DRAG CITY…
Opener ‘Baby It’s the Best’ sets things up wonderfully, sounding like a theoretical Stones on Drag City — sharp as fuck riffs, tight/wired/primal drumbeat and stunning interplay between Hagerty and Svenonius, when the former comes in with riff and vocals, “…I only get off in the summertime…” I guess this isn’t far from what Hagerty did in the Trux, where Herrema’s rappy/raspy vocals played against his own — it does sound wild Hagerty against Svenonius (with Mae briefly popping up vocally too). I put this on in the car and couldn’t stop playing it over and over again. All those dull listmakers carpin’ on about ‘Exile on Main Street’ and some bizarre reviewers trying to reconsider Primal Scream’s 92% dud ‘Give Out But Don’t Give Up’ (…it turned up in some sunday paper’s list of party music for the millennium — why would you want to utter the next century in with some bad Black Crowes and the sound of defeat?)…what about a record like this? (Or ‘Accelerator’, or ‘Save Yourself’ for that matter…). 

…WEIRD WAR…
Some of the Make Up/WW stuff might grate on some, Svenonius’ rap/high pitched Mayfield-like style could irritate — though I thoroughly dig it (singles like ‘Blue is Beautiful’ and ‘Little Black Book’ have already settled that — Lambchop’s Mayfieldisms were much more irritating in the long run). ‘Weird War’ is great due to the heavy presence of Hagerty, ‘Chicago Charlemagne’ being a key example where Hagerty sings first till Svenonius picks up the song and a strange droning guitar comes in — Hagerty one of the most inventive guitarists, though on the chorus a punk take on a glam riff comes in as Hagerty harmonises with Svenonius (…and then a whirring guitar circles in the distance…). ‘Who’s Who’ is pretty pop, Hagerty’s great high-pitched call and response vocals a definite hook — the song even has a very odd part where it sounds almost like a Madchester band and a strange banjo/drone effect comes in. 

…IBEX CLUB…
The rest of the album is as wild, as with the earlier Wipers experience (…I did make it to the third great Wipers LP btw!), I’m finding it hard to go on and listen to the rest of Weird War’s stuff. There’s so much here — jazz freakout instrumental ‘Ibex Club’, ‘Name Names’ (with that kind of Beastie Boys style drumming that turned up on ‘Sweet Sixteen’ by Royal Trux), and the sublime funk-Stones collision that is ‘Burger and Fries’ — there is a female vocal here that sounds very much like Jennifer Herrema. She’s not listed on the sleeve though, so must assume it’s either Mae or Espeleta? Mae, I think, offers some great lead vocals on ‘Weird War’ — she doesn’t sing enough, I loved her presence on ‘Hey Joe’ and really want to hear more. This is an odd psychedelic song, not unlike ‘Western Xterminator’ by RTX with a minimal Velvets-drumbeat — sadly only a minute or so long, but the perfect seague towards the Hagerty/Svenonius finale ‘Man is Money’ where the two bounce off each other like Ol’ Dirty Bastard and The RZA on ‘Cuttin’ Headz.’ The song stays lean garage-Stones, has some great 70s rock-style solos, and has some typically wild riffage that sounds like kettles going off, Coltrane’s ‘Glider’, & a tight-as-fuck riff at the end — so simple, but so hard to do. The kind of thing unobjective music criticism of Jack White credits him with — ironic that, Gun Club apart, the White Stripes owe the Make Up and Royal Trux so much for their sound!!! 

…ILLUMINATED…
I have listened to the later Weird War stuff, and its great too — but this is the one that I think stands out the most at present. I’ll get to grips with those other records, ‘AK-47’ having a hint of Slits in the bass-playing/chanting, and ‘Illuminated’ sounding like a disco T‑Rex, of all things. Hope they return with something new and come to these shores…but today, ‘Weird War’ is the one, and ‘Weird War’ is Unsung…