EL DESTRUCTO LTD

CMI RECORDSCUMBRE VIEJA
$10.00 - INCLUDES SHIPPING!
It’s all rock ’n’ roll…
Lemme tell you a story…

Me and El Destructo were sipping sodas one afternoon at the foot of the 13th station of the cross.

El goosed his juice with a glug of Jim Beam in a scene that was a cocktail of pomade, leather, and the Kinks well on its way to Hong Kong. Rapid-fire repartee and rebop ricocheted in our skulls and off the walls of his tiny South Wedge crib. It was the beginning of many chats I guess you could call “instructions in El Destruction.” Sweet soul music, Windsor knots, twice pipes, and the seventh chord --- we hit it all. The chin music let up just long enough to dig the brunette flame flicker through the door. She still had on her uniform. Man, she had great tits.

And that’s all rock ’n’ roll, dad. The music, the palaver, the icons, the tits --- they can all be explained, sustained, and refrained with rock ’n’ roll. They can be summed up, laid out, put down, and brought around with a cheap guitar, a coupla chords, and the truth.

That’s how El Destructo does it anyhow.

He’s got a hipster’s tongue and gunfighter stance, slinging his guitar like a drunken dance partner. Yet he’s cool enough to feel the earth spin. The man’s a fly on the wall with a bullhorn. He respects the beast within. Like I said, it’s all rock ’n’ roll as it stands. And it’s all right here in your hot little hands. El Destructo never strays too far from the jungle. And neither should you.

So just drop the needle on this platter and dig the primo primitive knowing all the while you’re in the midst of a prophet. A shaman who knows, preaches, lives, breathes, and simply is rock ’n’ roll.

I still look back on that afternoon of a few years back and smile. She really did have great tits.
-Frank De Blase
-Adelaide, South Australia
December 25, 2006
Construction Complete On El Destructo LTD CD
One of Rochester’s most unpredictable rock acts is poised to startle its fans once again, but this time by doing what is expected of popular performers: releasing a CD at long last.
The distinctive take-no-prisoners sound and furious stage presence of frontman Ed Repard made El Destructo Ltd a favorite among local club-goers from the late ‘90s through 2003. The act’s notoriety spread so far that the Mex restaurant on Alexander Street actually kept an “El Destructo Ale” on the menu in its honor, yet its reputation was never bolstered by a CD release until now.
"There was never, ever a bad El Destructo show," drummer Ryan Kemp said. "Playing out was what we enjoyed the most and what came easiest to us. If you weren’t having a cocktail and jumping up and down listening to us, letting the music pump through you, you weren’t really at the show."
Kemp also played keyboards and shared duty on backup vocals with bassist Jimmy Handsome in one of El Destructo LTD’s many incarnations. Both play on the new CD, “Cumbre Vieja”. The most important ingredient in El Destructo Ltd’s explosive mix, however, is certainly guitarist and lead vocalist Ed Repard.
El Destructo Ltd is the brainchild of Repard, whose musical resume includes such local acts as The Shop Class Squares. Appearing onstage like a dangerous Elvis Costello teetering on the brink of a meltdown, Repard dominates and sets the tone for both the act’s unstructured sound and its rapport with its fans.
"Ed was never one for genres." CASH MATTOCK INC CEO Cash Mattock said while trying to find the words to describe El Destructo LTD’s distinctive sound. "It’s raw rock, sort of like New York romantic punk." Repard’s free-spirited refusal to be pinned down to one niche may have paid off by widening El Destructo LTD’s appeal.
"We had a pretty big cult fan base,” Kemp said. "It was all over the board. It included everyone from punks to metal fans to rockabilly guys to country."
Because El Destructo Ltd emphasizes fun and simplicity, it may never win any awards for minutely structured melodies, painstakingly planned performances or lyrics with meanings so deep they make your brain hurt. That doesn’t bother the act’s frontman one bit though.
"The kids don’t like to think, so don’t make ’em," is Ed’s motto, according to Mattock, who also produced and engineered the new album.
Countless other bands have self-destructed in the past by letting that sort of carefree indifference carry over into other aspects, but not for the act named after destruction itself. Repard turned El Destructo Ltd’s lackadaisical approach into a creative force.
"We would never write lyrics on a piece of paper - that would be too much work,” Kemp said with a laugh. “If we didn’t know what to sing, we’d just mouth consonants and vowels. There never were any rules for that band."
"If it wasn’t handed to us on a platter, it just didn’t happen. If it had to get any more serious than it was it wouldn’t have been fun." Despite the carefree approach, the act managed to get quite a bit of recording work done in years past at an unnamed, informal recording studio nestled in the middle of a warehouse on St. Paul Street that was popular on the rave circuit. Mattock said the bulk of the work for the album was completed then with the help of two friends of Repard’s, Carl German, Mike Havens and Sean Havens.
Mattock remixed, remastered and retouched those recordings and added other material, such as a few songs salvaged from old 8-track tapes, featuring local guitar legend Paul Morabito playing drums. The result is essentially an anthology of Repard’s musical repertoire, he said.
Repard immediately grabs listeners by the ears in the opening tune, “Gimme Rock,” with a furious guitar riff complemented by disturbing backup vocals. “Springtime” offers no letup from Repard’s frenzy or the driving percussion behind him.. “Nancy” is more melodic yet retains the same El Destructo Ltd edge, as do the tunes, “I Could Bleed” and “Lauren Says.” The next tune, “Charlie Don’t Surf,” is driven by angry backup vocals. It is not until the fifth track, “Friends & Lovers,” that the energetic tempo of the CD slows down at all.
The sonic onslaught resumes in “Shakes It ” parts one and two, both of which showcase El Destructo’s distant guitar, as does “Golden Rule,” a slower track with interesting vocal tones. Like some of the other material, “Woman” features some ear-catching tones and timing changes. The tempo picks up again with “Looking For You,” featuring an incessant, driving beat and quirky breaks. The fourteenth track, “Transparent Door Knob,” is in the same vein while the thirteenth, “Get It Right,” is a disturbing, schizophrenic tune that resembles a hard rock version of “Strange Days” by The Doors crossed with the theme song to the film Halloween. Repard seizes the attention of fans in “Warning” by telling them that “your house is on fire!”
“The CD’s more a celebration of what Ed’s done in the past,” Mattock said. “I’m really happy with how some of the stranger parts turned out.”
“Cumbre Vieja” was named after a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean that geologists believe could cause massive tidal waves on the East Coast of the U.S. when it erupts next, he said. The album will be distributed worldwide and will also be available for purchase at his website, www.CMIRECORDS.com.
El Destructo’s plans appear about as anarchic as the act’s sound, because after that, there is no telling what direction Repard will take it in next, Mattock said. Repard is currently back on the local club circuit as the frontman for his new project, The White Rose, which has performed a few tunes from “Cumbre Vieja” at various gigs this fall, including one in October at The Spy Bar that served as the CD’s release party. The White Rose features an all-star lineup of musicians from other popular local bands, including bassist Rachel Purr and pianist Sara Purr of The Purrs, drummer Ethan Priest of The Priests and guitarist Cash Mattock. Repard may or may not schedule a tour to support the CD, according to Mattock.
“It depends on his mood,” Mattock said, then laughed. "Whatever works out best for him. I mean that in the most respectful manner"