special introductory
paragraph!
Patricia
Black Tuesday
The Messiah (by 26)
Doc Corbin Dart is an extremely confrontational yet friendly and thoughtful man who once sang lead for The Crucifucks and now sings lead for himself! Here, let's talk about him.
Okay so he has mental problems.
And it apparently drove his family away from him. I can only assume that's
what this album is about - him losing his wife. Every song is about being
abandoned by the most important person in his life - one "Patricia". The
lyrics are harrowing -- "You know I got hung up once, trying to walk across
town/I couldn't move, I was paralyzed/And as I finally hurried back toward
the safety of my room/I couldn't see through the tears in my eyes." Look
past the weak rhyme to what he's actually describing here. It's not just
"boy-loses-girl-and-his-heart-is-broken" stuff - the guy is describing his
mental breakdown. And it's just song after song after song of this kind of
confession - the confession of complete mental and emotional weakness. The
most difficult of these to deal with, at least for me, is "Fear Of
Abandonment," in which Doc, in simple terms and few words, describes how his
fear of being left alone made him behave towards her in such a way that he
drove her away, and he KNEW that this was happening but he literally
couldn't stop himself. And when she's gone, he concludes, "There's one
thing I don't have to face - It's clear why I was so afraid of abandonment."
I know what he's talking about and chances are that you are too unless you
really love yourself or you're just super-stoic. I feel like if my fiancee
left me, I couldn't go on. I know that that's emotional weakness, but that
doesn't make the feeling any less real. And I can't express it to her, or
even think very much about the possibility of losing her, or I bring myself
to tears and make her think I'm a big baby. Who wants to date a big baby
who can't tell the difference between nightmare and reality? Apparently
Patricia didn't. And who can blame her? She's probably dating a big black
guy with a huge penis now - perhaps that guy who played Urkle. Musically
the album is very straightforward folk strummy rocky - pretty little guitar
melodies reminiscent of early REM (or early REM clones). The music would be
somewhat inconsequential, though no less catchy I suppose, if not for the
fact that it fits the lyrics to a (golf) tee (shirt). If you want to peer
into the heart and mind of someone who pinned the entirety of his self-worth
onto a woman who wisely chose not to accept the responsibility, try to hunt
down a copy of the first season of Alice. If unavailable, come back
to me for a second suggestion.
docs dad is big dart head of dart corporation a multi million dollar styrofoam coffee lid factory if you look on the top of your coffee cups you may see the name. he founded crucifucks and made some great punk rock.. i love the first album with my whole being .... anyways he made this horridly great punk music.. thus pissing off a little of people and pretty much being abandoned by his family and wrote out of the will... for quite a while (i think still but not sure) he owned a baseball card shop in lansing michigan callled docs baseball and trading cards. he kicked one of my freinds out screaming "get out of here you fucking punk rockers i know what your up to". but to other people he would shoot the shit with em bout the ol days (this was before the reformation).
personally i hate wisconsin and hesitate to buy anything related to doc dart since the first crucifucks album but you cant please everyone. bor a while their bass player would be found at all hours of the night wandering east lansing in a daze with his bass.
Not exactly right. Doc's father is Roland Dart, who is the president of
Dart National Bank, in Mason Michigan. The container company, and the
energy company are the same family, but more like second cousins.
Plenty of money in the family, but Doc's side only has millions, not
billions.
Doc Corbin Dart may be an eccentric and sociopathic freaker who doesn't even know who the president is because he refuses to keep up with the world around him, but he's also an extremely talented man. The fact that he was forced to self-release this record of gorgeous acoustic compositions is depressing but understandable; his "anxious old lady" voice is definitely not for everybody. Still, man alive what great songs!
From the very first moments of opening track "The One Who Loves You Part 1," Black Tuesday recalls the finest of mid-'60s folk rock -- specifically (for me, anyway) the bright ringing acoustic tones and hooky chord changes of the Beau Brummels. Backed on most tracks by bass and drums, as well as occasional organ, piano and electric guitar, Doc performs ten original acoustic songs that range from folksy to menacing to absolutely beautiful. In addition to the warm shiny strumming, he adds in lots of great little breaks and arpeggios. Even more surprisingly -- particularly if you're only familiar with the first Crucifucks record -- his vocal melodies are equally lovely, even if his voice isn't.
It's difficult to pick highlights since it's pretty strong the whole way through, but notable variations on the general Beau Brummelsy sound include the energetic eastern-tinged "Caroline," Dead Milkmen-jaunty "Debbie," evocative stormy title track, and so beautiful you'll take a shit all over a bag of jizz "Not So Far Away."
Best,
The lyrics are probably good too, but I don't speak English so who knows.
On another topic, why hasn't "Weird Al" Yankovic released a hilarious parody of The Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It To The Streets" entitled "Takin' It Up The Ass"? What is he, a homophobe?
Here then are ten important lessons I have learned over the course of my long and celebrated life:
1. People are adaptable. You can adapt to any situation or lifestyle change, even if you think you can't.
2. Boners are hilarious if you're wearing sweat pants.
Hmm.
Never mind, I guess that's it.
Many people don't tell you this in public today, nor do others are even aware of it being as so to be was, but a few years ago Doc Dart and I were email pen-buddies. At the time, he informed me that he had changed his name to "26" for spiritual reasons (it's a long story that I don't quite remember), and we exchanged a number of emails about life, morality, sanity, animals and music. And let me tell you something, mister (or 'Mr.'), 26 is not the violent psychotic that you might expect. His sense of morality may be a bit different than some folks', but in many ways he's much, MUCH more compassionate than the average Jello. For example, he absolutely loves and respects all animal life. He always kept me updated on the status of his Ginger Bunny, who unfortunately was suffering from an ailment (cancer, I think? Can't remember), so I am of course saddened to find that "this album is dedicated in loving memory and adoration to the Ginger Bunny." And we often exchanged tales of my dog Henry's antics and his area raccoon family's goings-on. He expressed gratitude that Wellbutrin had tempered his emotional ups-and-downs, and even sent me a free Crucifucks t-shirt just to be nice! I'll admit that I was a bit put off by his reaction to the 9/11 attacks (you can read about that elsewhere online), but his message made sense. He may have made his point in an insensitively IN-YOUR-FACE manner, but as a global -- not a local -- thinker, his heart and mind were in the right. The simple fact about 26 is that he despises blind patriotism and blind faith, yet is surrounded by it. It's not that he hates America; he just hates a certain ignorant mindset that he would likely find in ANY country -- but because he just happens to live in the U.S., it comes across as "anti-American sentiment." I really liked conversing with the guy (who incidentally is much, MUCH more insightful and well-read than I am), and was saddened when he lost his computer to an ex-wife.
This CD is a revelation, as far as I'm concerned. All of the issues he addresses in the lyrics harken back to the many email discussions we had, and he argues his points in incredibly intelligent and compelling language. No more "Be a good American - Fuck off!"; now he's singing, "A darker age descended and the scholarship it ended/And even atheists have shrouded all that once was known/They claim there was a Jesus just to prove he was a man/And not a "god" their primary source? The Forged New Testament/This Logic tells me Santa Claus was once a man I know because/If they read the text a thousand times, The Night Before Christmas becomes a history rhyme." See why I love this man? That's fucking brilliant. All these jerks who argue, "Jesus was just a man - a GREAT man, but not the son of God!" Where are they getting this from? History books from that period have no mention of the guy's existence at ALL! His entire LIFE is a myth based on one book of myths! Good old 26. The Messiah is comprised of what are likely the most unique and fascinating lyrics I've read in ten or fifteen years. As such, I'm aching to share more of them with you. So I will do so! Aside from the previous example, other topics addressed on the record include:
- The immorality of neoconservatives making money off of the 9/11 tragedy ("You can't appeal to conscience where there is not one/Soap opera Towers bring profits")
- How far we have fallen out of touch with natural reality in our quest for immediate entertainment ("I am the little voice that says you'll never find what you're looking for/Sacrifice is foreign when your home is a department store")
- Those who disrespect animal life ("You don't know nothin' about pain/You don't know nothin' about agony/Until you've trembled at the cage hotel/And felt the sadist scalpel of 'science' in your flesh")
- People who are fascinated with UFOs and conspiracy theories while being willingly ignorant of that which actually exists around them ("If one of your Little Men/Lived in the house next to me/I could not know nor should I care/And what would be the novelty?/For on this earth are creatures of an infinite variety/That do not spark your empathy nor your sick curiosity"
And others. I'm tired and going on too long, quite frankly. Musically, 26 has his own thing going on too. NOBODY else would have made an album that sounds like this - it is the former Doc Corbin Dart all over. Tons and tons and TONS of guitars piled up on top of each other - 12-string acoustics, clean electrics, distorted electrics, more and more of them drowning each other out while a poor defenseless set of drums pips and tips along way in the background. And the melodies are a strange, unnerving mix of back-and-forth light-and-dark, relaxing-and-foreboding dichotomies. Like he constantly does this thing where he inserts morbid and minor-key notes and chord changes in the BACKGROUND while the main guitar(s) up front continue playing normal major chord progressions. This might be based on non-Western musical theory; I'm not really sure. Either way, it's fairly jarring and impressive! You'll just be swimming along soothingly to a nice A-E expression when suddenly way in the back, a lower tone will start hacking away at a note of tension. Weird, neat, good! Only a few of the tunes retreat to the bland basic chordisms of L.D. Eye's weaker material. And at 58 minutes, that's a lotta intriguing tunemanship, I do say! I must warn you, however, that this is definitely NOT music that will appeal to everybody. The production sounds homemade, for one thing. It's not "lo-fi" in the sense that it's all hissy and crappy and hard to hear, but it definitely has that "guy with an 8-track separating one guitar into each speaker, then punching in a feedback guitar here, then adding double vocals here, then taking something out to put in a harmonium bit here" sound to it. Not to mention the fact that the bass and drums are so subservient to 80 jillion guitar tracks (not something that the major label studios would quite letcher get away with!). But the biggest obstacle, as always, is his voice. This high-pitched, warbly, pinched-nose old lady's whine is simply NEVER going to go over well with 90% of music fans, especially when it's double-, triple- or quadruple-tracked with no care taken to synchronization -- an approach that shows up a few times on here and kinda irritates even ME! Otherwise, best album of 2006.
One other thing I must add -- "Infanticide" is musically the most ominous and chilling sound I have ever heard in my life. Luckily, the lyrics are a light-hearted jaunt in which 26 commands all women to murder their babies! Happy New Year everyone! Give my regards to Johnny Carson!
"Jesus was just a man - a GREAT man, but not the son of God!" Where are they
getting this from? History books from that period have no mention of the
guy's existence at ALL! His entire LIFE is a myth based on one book of
myths! Good old 26.
This is not true. Roman documents as well as the Jewish Talmut mention Jesus
several times and nowadays no historian will deny the existence of a rabbi
called Jesus who lived during that time.
this is what was told to me by one of my teachrs in college who grew up with doc.
"docs dad is big dart head of dart corporation a multi million dollar
styrofoam coffee lid factory if you look on the top of your coffee cups
you may see the name."
Just to let you know Patricia is Docs psychiatrist. A friend of mine was in close contact with Doc Dart for a while and he revealed that to him.
W.S. Merwin
Poet Laureate
Hi Mark!
As a big fan of your reviews I always enjoy reading new ones, especially
when they are about bands that i love, for examples the crucifucks.
About that messiah review, you wrote:
Although it is very doubtfull that he wanted to create a new religion (i e
christianity), rather than tell people to live in Jewish tradition, his
existence is pretty sure.
He may not be the son of god or the founder of a religion (at least not a
founder on purpose) but he was a man. If he was good or not, well, one
doesnīt know. He was a rabbi and very Jewish, if you consider those people
good people, he was.
Donīt want to attack you or anything, iīm not even religious, I just think
you shouldnīt promote statements that are simply not true. I mean, everybody
can claim Jesus didnīt exist, but it doesnīt help, because the historical
documents ARE in fact there and it is much more interesting and usefull for
people to see that guy (and that whole period) in an objectiv, historical
view than just to deny that he existed. It was an important time and the
foundation of the group of people who call themselves christians nowadays is
obviously one of the most influential ones in our history.
Sorry for my mistakes in English, I hope I could make my point clear.
If you want some details on it, I can try to send them to you. Itīs an
interesting subject, because the symbol Jesus and the actual person himself
were quite different from my point of view.
Ah okay, enough about, i will read the rest of the review now.
Music is more important for me than religion anyway!
Thanks for writing reviews, itīs always cool to read them.
Take care.
This is a great fucking album. But I was just wondering, on the back
of the booklet, he mentions Patricia on his people list or whatever.
So, did he ever get back with her, or can he still not get over her?
Beleive me, I can feel for him, as I know what it's like to be in his
shoes. I was just wondering. (I am drunk off my ass by the way, so
that's probably why this message is all disoriented and what not.)
Messiah could have been one more of the great things I've missed in my
life. Thanks for reversing that.
I just want to thank you for providing one of the few sources of info on Doc Dart as it is damn near impossible for me to find any info.
I also think it's particularily amazing that you've had e-mail conversations with him. His Patricia album along with the L.D. Eye
record really meant a lot to my life. I really hate Jello Biafra and the pricks at alternative tentacles. I've been trying to get them to
reissue Patricia. My cassette tape is worn out and I can't get another one now.
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