Miscellanea
Discs By Eric Wielander
If you're a fiend for the hypnotic grooves of Soundgarden's Ultramega
OK, you should be wondering what became of Hiro Yamamoto, that band's original
bassist. He's now part of the Truly trio, and it's clear that his simple-but-deafening
tactics were a key contribution to Soundgarden's early sound, since Fast
Stories revives that experience tenfold. Yamamoto split when his former
band got too tricky -- coincidentally, Truly avoids complex structures, but
instead seeks to unearth existing sounds, seeing what dark levels can be reached.
At once, this is a "guitar band," a unit with a killer rhythm section, an album
decorated with "dated" analog synths which leave warm sensations long after
they've actually dissolved. Brilliant first tracks usually nose-dive into an
energy lapse, but while "Blue Flame Ford" carries the most facile, melting riff,
the remainder of Fast Stories is a 90 MPH night crawl through sonic
backwoods while drugged on ether. Their two EPs on Sub Pop suggested potential,
but this longplayer exceeds beyond expectations. Easily one of the best Rock
debuts of 1995.
(SECONDS, June 1995)
Truly - Fast Stories... From Kid Coma (Revolution/Capitol)