COWS - The Pictorial

Sooper kleen hi-kwality vinyl rip of the first COWS album Taint Pluribus Taint Unum! (Check my channel for the full playlist)

Taint Pluribus Taint Unum was recorded by Brian Paulson and Steve Björklund somewhere in Minneapolis throughout June and July of 1987, then released on the Minneapolis-based indie punk label Treehouse Records later that year. This is definitely the noisiest and craziest sounding record they ever put out, which given that they were apparently dropping acid before every practice during those early days (I read that a while back in an interview someone did with Shannon Selberg) makes sense. This would be the only album to feature Kevin Rutmanis’ brother Sandris on drums, and it was the only album they put out on Treehouse. Their 1988 single “Chow” (also on Treehouse) is what got the attention of AmRep founder Tom Hazelmyer, who at the time had just put out the first Dope Guns ‘N Fucking In The Streets 7”. So COWS recorded the song “Almost A God” which was included on the second Dope Guns ‘N Fucking 7”, but this apparently pissed off the dude who ran Treehouse Records, subsequently ending their relationship with him and beginning their career-long tenure on Amphetamine Reptile. But anyways, yes this album is fucking weird. It’s one big huge giant ugly stinking boingy honking barfing mess and it’s fucking awesome. It’s grosser than Locust Abortion Technician, noisier than early Flipper, and heavier than the first few Boredoms records. The somewhat half-baked recording quality gives the album this lofi atonal depravity which totally adds to the overall chaos, and really sets this album apart from its successors. Overall this is definitely one of the wildest, wackiest, most oddball cartoon sound-effect records I’ve ever heard, and features some of the COWS most fucked-up material!

Vox/Horn - Shannon Selberg
Bass - Kevin Rutmanis
Guitar - Thor Eisentrager
Drums - Sandris Rutmanis

#COWS #TaintPluribusTaintUnum #NoiseRock