Trumans Water, "5-7-10 Split," O Zeta Zunis (Asthmatic Kitty)

I can't say I am intimately familiar with Trumans Water. The 19-year-old schizo-guitar-pop outfit, often billed as more Pavement than Pavement—wilder, less sensical, more angular—has spent most of its lifespan in relative obscurity, where it was safe from latte-sipping, Hummer-driving douchebags like me. But now that I've heard the Portland-based quartet's new album, O Zeta Zunis (it's 13th-ish record; out today!), I'm ready to like it and make it uncool. And because Asthmatic Kitty is re-issuing old material, I won't even have to illegally download Trumans Water's back-catalogue!

When I first pressed play on "5-7-10 Split," I thought for sure I had started two tracks simultaneously. But nope, that's the song: Two gloriously disjointed, revving guitars (one for each stereo channel!) firing up on their own before locking together over a still-chaotic punk rhythm. That boot-up noise soon launches into a loose but immediate mixture of jazzy skronk, post-hardcore and Dead Milkmen-esque party-punk that skaters of yore might have blasted back at the crash pad after a long day of shredding (sorry, dude, this will be my first and last foray into attempting early '90s skater-speak). I enjoy the cut-and-paste appeal of the whole gorgeous mess (it expands all the way into the band's scrapbook-style album art), hence my quick-approaching Trumans Water phase. Get into this shit with me, will you?

[audio:5710split.mp3]

By the way, I am driven crazy by the lack of apostrophe in the word "Trumans." Does that mean I'm an adult?

Trumans Water plays East End TONIGHT—which is going to be a very, very big deal for some people.

Links:
Trumans WaterSpace