"stumbling sound and song, bending the walls of time"
"somethin bout the repetition keeps me comin back"
CINCINNATI CITYBEAT SAYS:
Catfish and the Tumblers have evolved into an adventurous, deep exploration of psychedelia, with dynamic layers of impetuous guitar textures and hypnotic rhythms (with some sound collaging thrown in for dizzying measure) -- with Catfish's natural songwriting abilities still peeking through the experimental sunset. Catfish has worked with numerous musicians from around the region under the Tumblers moniker, but for the Cincinnati show, he'll have a crack crew that includes enigmatic Cincinnati guitarist Mark Zero and legendary Dayton music presence Don Thrasher (music journalist and member of bands like Guided by Voices and Swearing at Motorists) on drums.
I think it would be illegal to tell you to drop some acid before this one, but ... let's just say this is the kind of music you'd find God in if you're in the right altered state. Straight or dosed, Friday's show should be a compelling aural experience. (See Music.) -- MIKE BREEN
METRO TIMES DETROIT SAYS:
"An amazing set by the Tumblers... (they) have everything - volume and power chords worthy of Sugar, scenery-chewing vocals, guitar effects that make you woozy."
EVERY ISSUE PRESENTS ITSELF TOLD US:
"Like a flaming arrow through the heart of a beast.
God damn it, this new record is good."
C.S.BARRIOS SAYS:
"Two years in the making, its goodies-in-the-basket time again. The Lonesome Tumblers are back from galaxies infinite with tales of impacted wisdom ("blues" in the vernacular) set loose under an electric umbrella. The late mythologer Robert Graves took notice, describing Billy Catfish as the vine-man who joins together, and no two people are going to agree on the number or names of the ghosts heads nodding, some dancing as the rich tapestries of th'Tumblers unfold.
"Sitting at a crooked table in a room dominated by a foot-high platform barely wide enough for the band, I spy a younger Lowell George over by the woodstove taking it all in. Had to rub my eyes when I saw Ernest Tubb emerge from the john and, briefly by match-light, the face of Bo Carter.
"Between songs I heard a professor out of Cedarville holding forth at the bar: "This is not recreational music but, rather, a serious study of textural sound. Its long been my belief that the proper tone arrangements provide a glimpse into the possibility of timeline pull (bending the walls of time)."
"My neighbor asked, 'how's he work that parentheses into his tawk?' Before I could even think, th'Tumblers - like sheets of lightning on a landscape - were back. I made a mental note to ask Billy with what velocity the box was kicked (on "Bluesbreaker," on others), but then I thought 'What difference does it make?' I mean, who gives a cug what brand of microphone E.Pound was using during his doomed DJ gig in Rome? It's results that matter most and, with these Tumblers, it's results you get.
"Rock songs with guitars? Like the Pretty Things, they've done their share but wait: there are extra cylinders pumping here. Small wonder, then, that its a Tumblers hit (cue "Lost One") and not "Midnight to 6" going up against N.Takemura at the International Space Invaders Tournament.
"Riffle through the stacks at Aquarius Records, Twisted Village or anyplace in between and youll come up against the same tired dilemma: do you want a record based around songs or sounds? Sure, there are instances of both occurring together but, as any schoolchild can tell you, Townes Van Zandt and Pelt are different animals. That's cool, because th'Tumblers are a circus with interlocking rings, maytag pilots of the apocalypse with 3 minute ragas that hit you where you live and tell you in no uncertain terms what blood tastes like.
"The club is closing - it's 2 AM or thereabouts. Gary Potter, a graduate of the Middle Tennessee Blimp Academy, is heading back to his post at Wright-Patterson AFB:
'So what'd you think, Gary?'
"That last song deserves to be in an aviation museum!" Just one man's opinion (there are hundreds more if you include the women and kids). And like the fable of the blind guy and the gnu, what you come away with depends on what you grab onto.
