A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Buddha Jabba Momma LP by Chomp. As much as I like the artwork on the front cover (before I heard a note of the music on Buddha Jabba Momma, I was captivated by the cover’s similarity to some of the artwork on the interior of the Plastic Fang LP by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), I had to remind myself that interesting aesthetics do not make a good album. I also needed to remind myself that it doesn’t matter whether or not Exit Stencil is still in business as a record label, so the fact that I slept on this release is irrelevant. Really, the only thing that should matter about an album is the music on it – and, in this case, when I finally did put on Buddha Jabba Momma, Chomp had me in second. As soon as I heard the words, “This is bullshit” – the opening line from “Standing To Fail” – the first sound on the album.
As far as it is from what I expected Buddha Jabba Momma to be, the album still didn’t take long to win me over. From moment one, the album revels in a permutation of indie/garage rock that is not at all over-produced (it doesn’t sound airy, but mixes are not over-compressed or packed with too many ideas), but doesn’t sound like it was made for five dollars, either.”Standing To Fail” sets the standard for the album as, with pop-punk inspired vocals, keeps up the snide-but-not-snotty pattern set by “Standing To Fall” very nicely; the guitars stay tight, and nothing in the song has time to get boring. “Hammers And Nails” tests listeners’ patience by turning up the gain on Scott Reid Jr.’s drum kit and miking it nearly override the song, and that “too loud for its own good” style remains a staple through “Witch Hunt” and “Baited,” when the needle lifts and the side wants changing.
Those unfamiliar with Buddha Jabba Momma might be put off from the album in reading this review, but they shouldn’t be. The fact is that, on first listen, the occasionally abrasive production choices can be off-putting – but listeners won’t be able to keep themselves from returning because, after the shock subsides, the sweetness of the songs – the vocal melodies, the punky structure and the brevity of the songs – endures and remains in the memory of those who hear them and, after hearing that on the album’s A-side, the decision to stay with the record through the B- will already have been made.
…And the B-side upholds its promise, right away. “Throw Out Your Wish List” makes the most of Bowery-born guitars recorded with just the right amount of volume-powered overdrive, while singer/guitarist Joe Boyer [formerly of Cloud Nothings –ed] continues showing listeners his fantastic trick of sounding both bored and excited at the same time. “Fresh Wounds” offers a great surprise by completely re-thinking the form of the album and injecting vocal melodies which are more accomplished and stylized than listeners would expect, and then the band skirts copyright infringement cases which could be brought by bands like Coda Reactor or Emily’s Army and just rocks balls-out for a few minutes before playing the exct same trick through “Mind Rape.”
As Buddha Jabba Momma begins to reach its late-playing, it also begins to contract from the hard rocking it did through “Mind Rape” and “Fresh Wounds.” “Mission Demolition” is a great shock in that regard because while those running front-to-back with the album might expect the song to live up to its name, it actually defies expectation and delivers a rocking but reserved mutant. There, the guitars bounce back and forth from hard to soft as one might expect an alt-rock song to do, but the gentility of the song existing outside that time period creates a completely different impression for listeners to try and find their way into. The same is true of the almost whimsical guitars which power “In Dreams I Pull Out My Teeth” – the sweetness and relaxed delivery of the song are a very good and bright contrast to the earlier playing of the record, but listeners may feel confused when the song REMAINS in that box, instead of breaking out of it to seem more energetic.
The “break out” that listeners were expecting in the twilight of “In Dreams I Pull Out My Teeth” finally shows up as soon as “To Save Everything” opens to close out the album, and does its’ job in an instantly gratifying manner. There, with a sound which qualifies as “crash, zing,” the band just launches into an indie rock anthem which inhabits The Strokes’ spirit and still manages to play it a little more excitedly for good measure. Lines like, “I’ll let you all go/ To play all the shows/ To put in my time and pay my dues” are the ones included here because they’re the only ones which are intelligable – and while that might not sound like the single most glowing endorsement, the fact is that anyone who hears “To Save Everything” will be completely hooked and won by the energy of the performance alone. The passion is absolutely brilliant – and while some listeners may have been able to slip through the album unhooked to this point, no one will be able to get away from “To Save Everything” and, because it closes the album, it ensures that listeners will see the record in a different light when they begin it again – and they will begin it again, indubitably.
All of that sounds pretty good, right? It IS pretty good – the catch is that Buddha Jabba Momma might just have been Chomp’s swan song. Looking around online, Exit Stencil Recordings has not been terribly active in recent years (about fourteen of them, in fact) and the band itself hasn’t proiven to be terribly easy to track down either. Even so though, it’s still possible to find copies of Buddha Jabba Momma both as a download and on vinyl (the album is currently available at https://www.crazyvinylrecordshop.com/product/chomp-buddha-jabba-momma-vinyl-lp/ for sale for 5.99 (REALLY!) and for 8.99 as a download on Exit Stencil’s bandcamp page. That’s right readers, this record marks one of the few occasions when a digital copy of the album costs more than a vinyl copy. No matter how you slice it though, there’s no way to deny that this album got terribly overlooked. Over a decade on, Buddha Jabba Momma deserves greater reappraisal and rediscovery – regardless of the format on which listeners find it. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
https://chomp-bjm.bandcamp.com/album/buddha-jabba-mommahttps://chomp-bjm.bandcamp.com/album/buddha-jabba-momma
Album:
Chomp’s Buddha Jabba Momma LP is still available on vinyl and as a download. Buy the digital version here on bandcamp and here on vinyl.
