monday, october 13 at 9 pm
at pehrspace
http://pehrspace.org/location/index.html
325 glendale bl.
los angeles, ca
(213) 483-7347

from Chris Schlarb:

The first song I ever heard The Widow Babies
play was “Mike Watt Created The Universe With
A Bass Solo”. I was recording the group at the
request of concert promoter and musical
provocateur, Sean Carnage for a music film
called Friends In Other Dimensions. Sean knew
my musical leanings and said I might be
interested in the group as they seemed to
cross a wide chasm of my own influences, Yes
among them. We were on the second floor of a
narrow old house on Sepulveda Blvd that sat
atop a battered storefront. The group and I
both set up quickly and they ripped through
three takes in less than eight minutes. I was
sold.

At the time, mid-February 2008, I was in the
middle of at least four ongoing music
projects and felt compelled to take on a
fifth. I told the band that I was available
to produce an album and we exchanged numbers.
After a few phone calls we set up a recording
session at Matt Wignall’s Tackyland studio in
Long Beach just a month later. Drummer Tabor
Allen and guitarist Danny Miller told me
“Mike Watt Created The Universe With A Bass
Solo” was the first part of a six song paean
to the myth of the Minutemen bassist. We
finished five of the six tracks on March 22nd
and went out for pizza at Me-N-Ed’s pizza. It
was a quick days work with the band recording
their takes with youthful ferocity and
vocalist Elise McCutchen recording all of her
vocal overdubs as soon as the music was put to
tape.

A month later we met at my apartment for
mixing and the recording of acoustic epilogue
to the album. I continued to work on the mix
for the next few weeks until I felt confident
that The Widow Babies sounded the way they
should: raw, fun, excited, awesome and
awestruck.

From the opening drum fill to the closing
acoustic guitar The Mike Watt E.P. runs a
cool twelve and a half minutes, it’s over
before you know what you’ve just heard: a
parallel universe where Genesis and Melt
Banana combine to make The Lamb Lies Down in
San Pedro. In a time and place where
attention spans are further on the wain and
the listeners of the world are becoming more
judicious The Widow Babies cram in Brazilian
rhythms and timbales into “Vanity Thy Name Is
Lincoln” and meaty double tracked guitars ring
out on “Evil Triumphs Over The Awesome Powers
Of Kayak” where bassist Neil Marquez
continues to reveal his remarkable facility
on the instrument. I had a hunch from the
beginning that Watt would be proud.

Track Listing
01. Mike Watt Created The Universe With A Bass Solo
02. Vanity Thy Name Is Lincoln
03. Whatchu Thinkin’ Vampire Lincoln???
04. Evil Triumphs Over The Awesome Powers Of Kayak
05. In Which Watt Wins His Hands Back And Basses A River Into Existence
06. Epilogue

[All songs written by The Widow Babies]