Although still largely unknown by the underground circle, the Red Krayola, keep bellowing up from under the subversive music world (most recently with their two 2006 releases, Introduction and Red Gold EP). Mayo Thompson, the primary songwriter of the band, has been floating around the avant-rock scene for nearly four decades, now building a small fan-base of metropolitan hipsters with his involvement in Red Krayola and also as a producer that helped shaped the sound in the early 80’s of acts such as The Fall, The Raincoats, and the Stiff Little Fingers. But what many inside the U.S. missed out on during this period, except for the extreme devotees, was the fact that Thompson was still making records with the Red Krayola in response to the punk rock movement. His relocation to London found him a new cult following which ultimately led to his ability to work again. With the current resurgence of an interest in avant-rock and the Red Krayola due to the immediate disposal of the Internet, Thompson’s new record label, Drag City, has grabbed a hold of Soldier-Talk (1979), probably the least known of all Krayola records. It’s a wonder these records are finally becoming available again, mostly to set a proper example for today’s lack of an understanding for the true ethos behind avant-rock.

The experimental music scene we are exposed to now seems to have lost the edge that made records like Soldier-Talk so abstract and exotic to the human ears. Today, there are a slew of bands making records full of derisory and mislaid noise just for the purpose of making it. What these bands need to know about avant-garde is that it isn’t just making noise, it’s a very thought out style of music that is played with great precision. It may be a spontaneous art form, but the spontaneity is achieved with a clear vision of exactly what the musician wants to get out of it. It’s not a style of music everyone can play, although from afar it can seem achievable with ease. Thompson seems to have a great knack for a sense of the unknown, the spontaneous edge that made avant-rock so baffling and at times off-putting to listen to.

The understanding of the implementation of space, in particular the timing between the free-form drumming and explosive atonal guitar riffs on “An Opposition Spokesman” and “On the Brink”, is a quality that has been present in every avant-garde expert, from Miles Davis’ late 60’s work to the electronic realization of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Thompson is as close to revolutionary as the avant-rock scene saw (or failed to see for that matter), during the late 70’s. What made him so revolutionary though was his implementation of time and space within lyricism and vocals. He could fit strains of long, exhausting lyrics with ease, making it sound as far from contrived as humanly possible (i.e. “March No.14”). Modern artists, such as the Mars Volta and Les Claypool, have been trying to employ this into their craft but it always comes off as awkward, overused and a downright insult to people like Thompson. This is why it’s important that records, such as Soldier-Talk, are seeing the light of day – so up-and-coming bands can learn from those that helped to originate such crafts.

Thompson is one of those iconic figures in music who will probably never get the due he deserves. Unfortunately for the public and a younger generation of bands, these records seem to pass them by while lesser quality imitations are getting all the credit. But hope is still around with Drag City picking up virtually lost releases such as Soldier-Talk and releasing Thompson’s most recent work. We can only hope now that the music consuming public picks up on it nearly 30 years later.