The Lothars

From issue 29 of the Ptolemaic Terrascope.

PT logo
THE LOTHARS
OSCILLATE MY METALLIC SONATAS

If you don't know 'em by now you may remember The Lothars' "Twisted Calliope" from a Pot CD a while ago. The last time I listened to these guys was at T3 after a day of stress for Lotharian Jon Bernhardt who was running around trying to sort out his, well, theremin trouble. Yes the band with (count 'em) FOUR vintage and recalcitrant theremins return with the great "Oscillate my Metallic Sonatas". (From Wobbly Music, 9 Charnwood Road, Somerville, MA 02144, USA). They drone like a B-movie scored by Brian Eno on mandies in Brian Wilson's studio on a day too hot to do anything but mong. One of the picks here, album opener "Metallic Sonata No.1" is, under the right circumstances, as silently deadly as the "I love you" virus converted into a poisonous soundbyte. They lie very low in the primordial soup of old technology - just their eyes peer out of the murky swamp, but like the hammer horror pictures pinned to the nearby trees you know they're always watching you . . . (Steve Hanson)