Released: May, 1993
My Pal God Records
47 Hardy Drive
Princeton, NJ 08540
Sluggo - guitar, bass, vocals
Stelios Valavanis - bass
Lavon - percussionist
Adam Harris - saxophone
Ted E. Gray - noise
DragKing's second single. Recorded in the winter of '93 at Mama Stel's studio. The A-Side Miscegenation, is a Sluggo composition. Miscegenation is a hard "punk" song, driving and churning through it's several parts, which at first seem disconnected with each other but then taken as a whole make a lot of sense. The B-Side included two songs. First was the sample driven Combustion, followed by the sparse hard sounds of Spontaneous. Spontaneous can only be found on the Miscegenation single
Reviews
This is part of a review for the Trixie Jamboree that Robert Lim wrote for the Chicago Maroon.
"Miscegenation" is an aggressive, partly amelodic, complex pastiche of different tempos, phrasings and rhythms. The closest comparisons I can think of are the guitar ramblings of Trumans Water and Pitchblend; however, the band made a good judgement call and kept the piece relatively succinct, a quality highly desirable in the single format. The high point of the record comes on the b-side with "Combustion", which is by far the best DragKing song I've heard so far- underscored by waves of white noise puncuated with manic bursts of saxophone noodlings, it is a juggernaut of sound that leaves its impression on the unsuspecting listener for quite some time. "Spontanious" follows, and finishes up the single in a less impressive, but still solid manner.
Robert Lim
The Chicago Maroon
December 3, 1993
From the First Annual Raw Material Awards in the New City.
KEENEST DESIGN - Single: "Jazz Monster" (Trixie Records) and "Miscegenation" (My Pal God Records), DragKing, drawings: Benjamin Evans, layout: band.
Ben Kim
New City
December 16, 1993
Cyndi Elliott reviewed the Miscegenation single for Alternative Press, the national music mag.
Ripe and elegant noise assault with saxophone, "Miscegenation" (meaning the mixing of races) is a Royal Trux meets Borbetomagus-styled assault with just enough hook to keep you running back to your dinosaur turntable. The flipside is revved-up and gorgeous, a buttery treat with a pretty neurotic crust. I suspect that at their strongest Drag King could be contenders in the all-to-abscure arena of squonk rock. Comes with glamorous Ben Evans comic book.
Cyndi Elliott
Alternative Press
April, 1994
From the fine fanzine Your Flesh.
Yeah, this is a really terrible name for a band from Chicago, but the music is outstanding. Lurching and stomping Beefheart type jams with noise and noises on top. Saxophone all over the place and a weird looking bunch on the jacket. Comes with a comic book that is pretty cool too, but doesn't shed much light on what inspired the music. Rare to find such a noisy reckless tangle so memorable.
Craig Finn
Your Flesh
Issue 30
Here's the blurb from the Ajax Records catalog. Makes you want to buy 100 copies eh?
DragKing's second 7" furthers their exploration of the swinging scuz universe, with their skeletal postpunk dirt attack melded again with squalling sax, albiet with clearer production than on the Trixie 7". Handsome full-color sleeve, too.
Tim Adams
Ajax Records catalog
June - Sept 1994
back to DragKing's recordings
back to main DragKing page.
