Poem Rocket

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Poem Rocket
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, USA
Genre(s)	Art Rock, Post-Punk, Noise Rock, Indie Rock
Years active	approx. 1993 to present
Label(s)	Atavistic Records, PCP Entertainment
Members
Michael Peters Sandra Gardner Adam Cooke
Former members
Peter Gordon

Poem Rocket is a U.S. art rock band based in New York. Formed in the early 1990s (approx. 1993), the band consisted of Michael Peters (vocals, guitar, songwriting), his wife Sandra Garner (vocals, bass, songwriting), and Peter Gordon (drums). The wedding date of Peters and Gardner is unknown; they had a child in spring of 2003. The band started off by releasing a few 7" singles and a 10" EP; many songs from them were compiled on the Felix Culpa CD in 1995. Their proper debut album was recorded in 1997 at The Funhouse with William Weber, and was mixed by Wharton Tiers; it was released in 1998 by PCP Entertainment. They then switched labels and released the concept album psychogeography on Atavistic Records in 2000. Sometime in the next few years, Adam Cooke of Baltimore rock band Roads To Space Travel replaced Gordon on drums. By late 2003, based now primarily on a mountainside in upstate New York, the band was close to completing a double album, tentatively entitled Invasion! Pre-orders were taken for the album by Atavistic, with promises that those who pre-ordered would also receive a limited-edition bonus EP called Lend/Lease (recorded in 1999 at Six Finger Satellite's studio in Providence, RI) with Invasion! However, there has been complete silence for the following three years, both from Atavistic and from the band's website, leading to speculation that the band has broken up or is undergoing label difficulties. Peters is also a member of the experimental literary collective Be Blank Consort; he has been working writing on a biography of architect Fleury Colon.

1 Hip Pharmacy
2 Blue Chevy Impala
3 Virus
4 Discography
5 Subway Relocation Memo

[edit] Hip Pharmacy

Poem Rocket, while in most respects a visceral rock band, draws upon a broad palette of influences, both musical and otherwise. Being originally immersed in the New York City music/art world exposed them to myriad creative stimuli. Rock influences include Sonic Youth, Suicide, Can, Live Skull, Bauhaus, The Church, Fugazi, Talking Heads, Pixies, The Ex, Band Of Susans and Gang Of Four. My Bloody Valentine, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Slint, Unwound, and Siouxsie And The Banshees seem to have informed Poem Rocket's sound as well. Some more avant-garde influences include the guitar walls of Glenn Branca, the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno, and the minimalist pulsing compositions of Steve Reich. They also draw from conceptual art, situationism, and varied literary inspirations; their 2000 album was titled after Guy Debord's concept of Psychogeography, which is the study of how the geography and architecture of environments shape the behavior and thought processes of their inhabitants. Sample lyrics from "Reurbanization Of The Space" read, "Here is the new trend, examine the implications in the public and the private sectors... You're creating the mythology of the Great American City... The space around the buildings is the soul of the city." Peters generally sings an a careening, animated, androgynous voice, while Gardner uses more of a controlled, breathy purr. Themes of existentialism, architecture, alienation, outer space, and biology crop up frequently, though the lyrics are open-ended enough to warrant multiple interpretations. Peters and Gardner can often be found harmonizing beautifully while atonal squalls of noise and throbbing basslines churn around them, leading to a disorienting, kinetic overall sound. Key examples of songs in this style include "Small White Animal," "Appeal To The Imagination," "Box: Tallow, Felt And Ice" and "Blue Chevy Impala." They have had a few acoustic numbers, such as "God Damn Alien Sundial" and the sexually-suggestive love ballad "Milky White Entropy." They have a song named after Dutch painter Karel Appel. Subdued travelogue "Budapest" features reversed cymbal and guitar samples. The twelve-minute song "Levy 9 R.S.V.P." appears to be about the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in 1994; the line "If it hits us, say I told you so/ No regrets" is repeated several times with increasing urgency. After an extended crescendo, it concludes with a whispered line about "fragmentary guests... deep in the dense layers of hydrogen." "Bataille" is apparently about controversial philosopher Georges Bataille. Their main label, PCP Records, was manufactured by indie rock titan Matador Records, but Poem Rocket has not yet achieved the wide recognition of similar bands like Sonic Youth or Radiohead, instead remaining cult underground favorites. As of 2006, their full-length CDs remain in print, but their EPs have been out of print and scarce for years. (None of their CDs were ever released on vinyl.)

[edit] Blue Chevy Impala

Poem Rocket's national (and/or international) touring history is uncertain, though they were known to play frequently around the New York City area in the 1990s at highbrow clubs such as The Knitting Factory and The Cooler, and probably CBGB's. They are known to have played live with Blastula, Wharton Tiers Ensemble, Mecca Normal, labelmates Slug (rock band, not rap group), Tono-Bungay, and Hippopotamus. They likely have played live with their recording partners Six Finger Satellite.

[edit] Virus

A band in the U.K. formed in early 2005 under the name Poem Rocket (www.myspace.com/poemrocket), even boasting a similar sound and set of influences as the U.S. Poem Rocket. Despite the plagiarism and general violation of intellectual property rights, the band has no relation to the original Poem Rocket.

[edit] Discography

Albums

Felix Culpa (singles/ rarities compilation) (PCP, 1995)
Infinite Retry On Parallel Time-out (recorded in 1997) (PCP, 1998)
psychogeography (Atavistic, 2000)

EPs

Into The Aether (a.k.a. "Blue Chevy Impala") 10" (Bear/ Carcrashh, 1995)
The Universe Explained In Six Songs CD EP/ mini-album (in oversized clamshell case) (Secret Eye, 1999)
Lend/Lease CD-R EP (unreleased thus far; recorded in 1999)

Singles

"Period (punctuation or the amount of time required for a cyclic movement to occur)" b/w "Flaw" 7" (Bear, 1994)
"Small White Animal" b/w "Milky White Entropy" 7" (PCP, 1995)
"Desire Illuminated" b/w "Electronimo" 7" (Magic Eye Singles, 1997)

Tracks recorded for various-artist compilations (1995-97)

"Deus Absconditus," "The Animal Planter," "Begging To Please You," "Pretty Baby," "The Path Of Coterminous Crescendoes," "Return In Disarray" (never formally released; full mp3: http://www.originalmonochrome.com/pcp/pcp_mp3/pr-disarray.mp3)

Music videos

"Small White Animal" (Directed by Poem Rocket and Peter Gordon) (MPG video excerpt: http://www.poemrocket.com/video/small_2.mov)
"Box: Tallow, Felt, And Ice" (Directed by Elizabeth Bustamante; cinematography by Dave Anderson)
"Ka-boom" (Directed by Poem Rocket and Peter Gordon) (MPG video excerpt: http://www.poemrocket.com/video/kaboom_1.mov)