GG King - Esoteric Lore LP

For myself this is year zero of what I consider the Atlanta sound of the last 15 years. There was something new germinating post Carbonas that began to embrace a darker side and reveal a more complex facade. I'm not saying it didn't exist before Esoteric Lore, but upon release it was this summation of what was unfolding. It may not be obvious, but geographically Atlanta is somewhat isolated in the context of touring bands. That's not to say that we don't get our share, but being in the southeastern corner for many we are the furthest away in the country. Also people will often hit Tennessee or North Carolina and had west to Texas. I bring this up, because this isolation yielded a very insular scene, one in which we were all reflecting and absorbing each others ideas, energy, and record collections. I don't think anyone was trying to sound like each other (and we don't), but it was like a cannon of scales and textures belonging to some bizarre folk music. This is just how music sounded for us. I guess I'm biased being from here, playing in this band (not on this record though), being part of this whole scene, but I think some of the most creative punk music has come out of Atlanta in the last two decades. We were all trying to look beyond punk and fold it back in to what we were doing. Greg grew up listening to esoteric metal tapes (ask him about getting Emperor's demo from Bard in 92!) and will always buy whatever krautrock or Memphis rap I get in the store. We all have kids and grey hair, but resigned that this was our life a long time ago and made the conscious decision to push punk further. This doesn't have to be Oldies or classic rock. I realize I haven't really said anything about the record, but I don't need to, it is a classic punk record and mean that going back to 77. Beautiful fragments of melody, coated in smoke and stale beer, acid, speed, introspection, full moon, goat ravishing music....music for living in a city. This one has been remastered and while Dave Rahn's original in the red master sounded great, this updated master provides a little more clarity on some of the nuance that Greg is so great and tucking into the corners of his songs. There are always so many layers. Xerox an image until it is something new, loop a sound til its destroyed. It's a high honor to reissue this for my friends and bandmates. Hopefully we will keep this one available for awhile.