No Hype

I saw that my music lover brother Will is hawking a copy of Robert Valente's NO HYPE album at the usual place where buyers should always be wary (unless you're buying from Will, that is). This LP is more than excellent, in my opinion. Here's what I wrote about it earlier this summer when I parted with a spare:

Chris Deden (consumate Simon Joyner bandmate) turned me onto this obscure rarity quite a few years ago and it immediately became one of my favorite records. Time has been very kind and while a whole boatload of previously admired sounds has eroded into worthless piffle before my eyes, this album has just grown mightier in my eyes. Valente stums an electric guitar and, in his haunting voice – lying somewhere between Jandek, Neil Young, and Will Oldham – he sings a variety of existential songs that alternate between sparse two chord dirges and more folky pop numbers. To my ears, the sound is more like early 70s LA coffeehouse folk than anything that could have come out of Iowa City in 1979 … but then there was that Units LP out of Houston around the same time …

There is a strong vibe of redemption running through the record that may turn off those who are prefer their angst unadulterated with references to well-known belief systems. The Jesus dude is name-dropped, e.g., “High School” (“Sittin’ in this high school/ wishing that I was stoned/ everyday this is crazy/ feelin’ I want to go home’/ won’t you come on back/ mr. jesus/ won’t you come on back/ right now”) and “Chain Gang” (“A rollin’ out on a chain gang/ a rollin’ on a chain gang/ I killed that woman I went insane/ rollin’ I’ve got this heavy chain/ I’m callin on jesus/ lord they drove me insane”).

Valente is still working and making CDs. I can confidently say that, other than his instantly recognizable voice, none of his contemporary releases sound anything like his far more austere and dark debut album. When there are so many (nearly all?) dubious Christian rock or “outsider” reissues being peddler these days, it’s a travesty that this album has been virtually ignored since its release nearly 30 years ago. So here’s a fairly spiffy original copy. If you like the sort of music that I like, my advice is to jump on this one. And yes I’m aware of the obvious irony.