Venus Handcuffs – “Self-titled” – [Ad Hoc Records]

ophelia necro   7/11/2006   A Library

Venus Handcuffs (Susanne Lewis and Bob Drake) got their start in Colorado’s most far-reaching band, Thinking Plague, later changing the bands name to Hail. This CD is their debut duo recording from 1986 mastered from the original cassettes. All tracks but one (“Rest Home”) were recorded in the abandoned Mile High Yogurt factory building in a forgotten and decrepit section of “lower downtown” Denver. Utilizing the large, empty rooms with tiled walls and concrete floors as sonic effects (reverb, ambience, echo etc.). Most of the instruments and equipment employed to record were rather ‘low-tech’ (a two track Sony F1 digital recorder,and a cheap cassette deck and a noisey dilapidated little mixer) and as run-down as the space itself, adding a unique charm and intimacy to the sound. This brings a uniquely ‘post-punk’ fortitude to the forefront of its style and recalls the New York art rock scene of The Factory.