While I promised a post about the mystic Christian arts project The Trees Community this week, I’ve opted to save that one for next week. I have a new musical project of my own to trumpet: Raw Action On Route, a three-song EP out tomorrow, September 6, 2024, from my friends at Fort Lowell Records. But guess what? You can listen to it right now as you’re part of my inner circle.
Here’s the bio:
Noted podcaster, liner notes author, and music writer Jason P. Woodbury, aka JPW, returns with another broadcast from the far side of the cosmos. The Raw Action On Route EP collects three recordings made circa JPW’s debut, Something Happening / Always Happening (Fort Lowell Records), which was hailed by MTV News (RIP) as “...a desert broadcast from the past where remnants of space-age pop mingle with an undeniably easy (and breezy) feeling you might've found out in Topanga in 1972."
Utilizing a sparkly red Partscaster gifted to him by his brother, a set of vintage drum machines, and plenty of reverb and echo, these selections present a darkly comic side of Woodbury’s songwriting: “I Miss That Song” tells the story of a doomed cosmonaut drifting through outer space with an Osmonds’ deep cut playing on a loop in their head, while the instrumental “Old Scratch” blends soundtrack score cues with dubby ambiance, a wheezing pump organ subbing in for reggae’s signature melodica. The EP closes with a remix of SH/AH’s “The Road That Knows No Law,” featuring woozy, Twin Peaks-worth synth textures from Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple, who mixed these songs to tape at his Long Beach studio Big Ego.
Drifting into spookiness but retaining a lo-fi friendliness, Raw Action On Route drops you back into JPW's orbit. Enjoy your spin.
These particular recordings date back to sessions for my debut album, Something Happening/Always Happening. I’ve been fired up about music before in my life, but 2020-22 found me writing, recording, and playing more than any other time in my life. Amidst that burst of creative expression, I ended up with much more than I knew what to do with. There are plenty of proper songs in the mix, but also lots of ambient or soundtracky selections. I feel like these three songs fall somewhere in between those differing zones.
“I Miss That Song” is a sci-fi number built on a boisterous drum machine clip. It’s a goofy song, inspired by an Alan Moore comic about the heat death of the universe. Then there’s “Old Scratch,” an ode to Lee “Scratch” Perry featuring an ill-mannered pump organ and reverb-drenched mic bonks as percussion. “Old Scratch” is more specifically a folkloric nickname of the Devil, invoked here as a mischievous trickster figure. I know I wrote about Jesus recently, but I think about the Devil just as often when working on music, that’s for sure. To close, there’s “The Road That Knows No Law (Psychic Temple Remix)” a synth-dappled loner folk version of my song which appears in jammier form on SH/AH—Schlarb adds a minor chord on synth that really kills me (in a good way).
I’m pleased to finally share these tunes. Perhaps it’s my impending 40th birthday, but I’m hearing the big clock ticking louder and louder each day. Reflecting back on these my recorded archives, I realized that while I’ve made lots of music in the last few years, I haven’t shared much of it outside of live gigs. I don’t know if that’s me being protective, simply procrastinating, some mix of both, or what. But Raw Action is a move toward changing that. It’ll be joined by more music soon. In fact, another digital single created in partnership with my bud Dad Weed is on the horizon, to be followed by a full album we made together, plus more digital drops, and another JPW LP, which is well underway.
But for now, I hope you enjoy these three lo-fi cuts. To expand your listening experience, here are five inspirations that fueled them:
Spain Rodriguez
Eagle-eyed readers will note that both the title “The Road That Knows No Law” and the lyric “raw action on route” are borrowed, ahem, adapted, from the cover of 1976’s Subvert Comics, issue no. 3. I am not the world’s most versed Spain fan, but I find his images so compelling and gonzo—not unlike Jack Kirby in terms of his bold, dynamic figures.
A lot of lyrical stuff on Something Happening/Always Happening yanked various words and phrases from comics, books, records, and assorted holy texts in my office, where I also record on my own. Everything from Jeffrey Kripal’s Mutants and Mystics to the Gnostic gospels to comic books, old magazines, and ephemera provided material to cut up, move around, and spark my imagination. I wasn’t intentionally aiming for the post-apocalyptic with “The Road That Knows No Law,” but the tune was inspired by driving on 1-17, Phoenix’s most Mad Max-like highway, so I suppose it all tracks.
The Osmonds, Crazy Horses
Psychedelic heavy metal from pop’s favorite Latter Day Saints? Obviously, I’m not the first to break the news that The Osmonds have a heavy groover in their sunshiney back catalog, but I return to this one often. First off, it rocks, and secondly, I am deeply fascinated by Mormon cosmology and pop culture.
Of all the faiths to spring up from the charismatic flourishing of new religions in the Burned-Over District of upstate New York in the early 19th century, Mormonism has proved lasting and provides no shortage of fascinating insights into the American religious imagination. “LDS in Outer Space” is a favorite subgenre too. See: Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, and once again, The Osmonds with “Going Home.”
Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell (cassette archives)
A few years ago, I left my longtime post at Zia Records. But on my way out, I scored some of the weirdest and most treasured items I ever picked up during my 15 years of and on there, including a few original Manly P. Hall leaflets and a huge milk crate full of cassette tapes of old episodes of Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell, all curated by the same passed on antiquarian.
I’ve subscribed to Coast to Coast through their app in the past and it’s nice to have lots of vintage Bell material there. But nothing beats the ambiance of these old tapes. The combination of AM radio frequency hum and tape hiss is perfect. There’s a brief snippet from an episode nestled at the start of “I Miss That Song,” nabbed directly from the speaker of the handheld cassette deck included in the haul of tapes. I still listen to C2C on the air when I can—I especially liked when the late Ian Punnett would host, and lately I’ve enjoyed the feel of George Knapp’s guest host sessions—but ultimately, no one bests the flow and command of Art in his prime. A truly weird American phenomenon that presaged so much of the shattered consensus reality we inhabit today, perfect radio listening.
Starflyer 59, “Theme From Dromedary”
A Starflyer instrumental B-side. I prefer “Traffic Jam” even more, but this one profoundly influenced the character of “Old Scratch.” I’m still a little flabbergasted that Jason Martin of SF59 appeared on the podcast. As alluded in that interview, my band played a gig with his cock rock side project Red Strat a few years ago at the Easy Tiger bar in Glendale. I didn’t want to come off as a fanboy, so after the show I just said “hey” and thanked him. “Thanks for writing about the records and all that crap over the years,” he said taking a drag. A totally perfect interaction. I shook his hand and headed home.
On Recording, by Chris Schlarb
This EP was done before I got a chance to read the book Chris Schlarb released last year, but Schlarb himself has been such a huge inspiration to me so it counts. Schlarb has this way of cutting to the point, however long the point takes to reach. I love this book of his. On Recording won’t take up much space on your bookshelf. In fact, you can slip the slim volume right into the back pocket of your dungarees, which is helpful as you’re going to want to keep this one nearby while making music.
Splitting the difference between a blue collar art manifesto and “how to” guide, the book distills lessons that Schlarb has learned from hours logged in the studio—just the goods, no bullshit. Though Schlarb admits early on in its pages that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to create music, On Recording nonetheless offers practical advice for those moments when you found yourself in doubt or perplexed. Schlarb’s prose feels like a steady hand on your shoulder—a feeling I’ve benefited from creatively many times over the years.
Chris put out a great album earlier this year, Doggie Paddlin' Thru The Cosmic Consciousness. I wrote the liner notes for it. His new band Black & White Pilot is playing with The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis at The Lodge Room in Los Angeles on Friday, September 6th and Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown Saturday, September 7th.
OK, that should do it for this week. Keep on, I’ll speak with you again soon.
I love these tunes and dig the additional context. I finally ordered Chris’ book, too - thanks for the reminder!