NINE TOBS-GRUFFY SPLURGE, LP, NETHERLANDS, 1985

The wide-ranging grab bag of R.I.O. signifiers that this fascinating and capital Q quirky Dutch outfit pull from resists easy parsing. There's a bit of Etron Fou-ish angular capering here, some Greaves/Blegvad-Kew Rhone arch art song mannerisms there and a fair bit of sprightly yet screwy maneuvers that owe something to David Thomas' work with Chris Cutler and Lindsay Cooper on "More Places Forever" holding the mid-ground, but the manner of their assembly is uniquely their own. Hans Buhrs quasi-Beefheartian bellowing and blathering usually occupies the center of the action, something which is likely to be the high point for some a a deal-breaker for others, as his flamboyant and mouthy attack is something of an acquired taste to say the least. Methinks it's a taste worth acquiring.

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