The path Athens, Georgia band
Is/Ought Gap took to their first widely available album
SUA was uncommon, to say the least. First active in the early '80s,
Is/Ought Gap were part of the vibrant Athens scene that gave rise to
Pylon,
the B-52s,
R.E.M., and a host of lesser-known but equally innovative artists all exploring adventurous, new interpretations of rock & roll.
Is/Ought Gap played out regularly but didn't release any recordings aside from a few compilation tracks before disbanding in the late '80s, with bandmembers going on to work in bands like
Kilkenny Cats and
Time Toy. There were various reunions as the years went on, and in 2014, the band revisited both old recordings and songs written decades earlier but never fully realized.
SUA collects all of this output, presenting a portrait of a band that was very much part of the turning tides of independent music in a pivotal time. The compilation begins with seven songs tracked in 1984. There are similarities to
the B-52s' slinky party rock and
Pylon's post-punk angst, but
Is/Ought Gap tap into a more lighthearted reading of these sounds on jumpy tunes like "Artsy Peace and Love" (which exhibits some of their
Modern Lovers/
Velvet Underground influence) and "He Said." Blurty saxophones and yelpy vocals on "Mad" recall the nihilistic fun of
the Contortions, while the (possibly unfinished) instrumental "Voices" hints at gothy experimentation with synthesizer parts and twitchy rhythms akin to the earliest material from
the Cure. Four tunes in the middle of the album were written in the early '80s but committed to tape around 2014. These songs are a little scrappier, with "Meaningless Irregular" conveying the sound of a rough-edged, dive bar punk band playing live to a tiny room, and "Grey Coat" reactivating the group's particular brand of tense, shadowy rock. The album is rounded out by four chaotic live tracks from 1985, including shambling, nearly belligerent takes on their own songs and covers of classics by
Wire and
the New York Dolls.
SUA captures the intersection of creative fire and absurdist fun where
Is/Ought Gap spent most of their time in their early existence. It's a great look at one of the many bands of their day who were making just as glorious a racket on the sidelines as their better-known peers were in the spotlight. ~ Fred Thomas
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