TONE RODENT PURVEYORS OF SONIC SPLENDOR

A leader of the ever-marginalized local space-junkie genre and perhaps one of St. Louis' most underexposed bands, Tone Rodent rocks cosmic without any dead-horse flogging or stereotype crutches. (In other words, this isn't cock rock.) Live appearances are rare and sporadic, which, combined with the band's aural and visual aesthetic, often leaves audiences mystified yet spent. Too melodic and rhythmic to be called noise and too comfortably abstract to be called...well...normal, Tone Rodent sometimes evokes the MC5 after an overdose of mysterious gold-speckled pills. At other times Tone Rodent brings to mind the flippant adoration of Metal Machine Music-era Lou Reed riding to Venus on a great speckled bird. But the group always offers up an exciting cocktail of technology-driven sound washes and driving rock & roll thrust.

ñ Riverfront Times 5/28/03

Five track CDEP - or, according to the band, a special limited edition three track CD that contains 2 live bonus tracks - cute, guys. At times, like the opener ìMooreî, and flanged out ìPassed Us Byî, it kinda reminds me a bit of those overdriven guitar/bass 4 track/boombox recordings that many a amateur home recording types have in our closets, including myself. I donít mean that in a bad way or anything - I like those recordings, and I dig TRís also. The live tracks are better, two untitled murky 8-10 minute jams, the first of which brings to mind early Subarachnoid Space. The feedback heavy squall of the final track even moves in on Skullflower territory, although itís not quite THAT heavy (but then again, almost no one is). They do it pretty darn well, and the live tracks in particular make me want to hear some more.

ñ Aural Innovations #22 January 2003

Almost a month ago, we asked readers to describe, in 500 words or less, their favorite aspects of the St. Louis music scene -- the performers, bands, DJs, club nights and so on that get them off their couches of an evening. After countless hours of painstaking deliberation, we've finally selected a winner: Jason Wallace Triefenbach, who wrote about local noiseniks Tone Rodent.

Without further ado, here is Triefenbach's winning entry, which edged out other strong contenders on the strength of its messianic fervor, its bizarre neologisms, its hilarious digressions and, of course, its complete lack of references to S. Eric Ketzer:

"When rock & roll becomes self-referential, it is as inane and purposeless as the visual arts at their worst. (Note well: The garage is that part of one's home that eventually becomes a depository for broken gadgets and yesterday's mildewy bored-game sensations.) There is, however, a quite dissimilar path one may travel, one which leads through vast expanses -- strange hieroglyph bleeps and buzz-saw horizons. Red with purple flashes?

"Tone Rodent, by their press-kit admission, play "Post-Maximalist Hard-Psych-Dreamcore" music, a genre some of you may recognize by its alternate nom de plume, "Space Rock" (or, as I like to chuckle dryly to companions over a snifter of Asti, "Soundtrack for Exploding Fudge Noir"). In truth, however, each of these descriptions captures only a fragment of Tone Rodent's overall output. When appearing as an effects-laden guitar duo, the partners produce screeching noise alongside gentle hums as the occasional crackle of feedback or the sound of a tortured cable loops on and on, providing jerky cadence to the washes of distortion. At other times, one encounters Tone Rodent as a stutteringly melodious four-, five- or six-member band flaunting very danceable rhythms in addition to the aformentioned screeches, washes and looping disconnection. Either way, the best possible condition for a live experience of the group is slightly more than slightly inebriated, eyes closed, swaying and stumbling as patterns converge and morph just behind one's eyelids.

"With the rising popularity of imports like Sigur RÛs and Mogwai, as well as the eastward thrust of California Shoegaze (as typified by the Warlocks or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), I foresee a day when the sweaty guitar of anti-frontman Adam Watkins will be held aloft over screaming hordes of teenyboppers as heroin flows backstage and Christina Aguilera just can't seem to get on the guest list. When that happens, I will perch, disgruntled, in the shadows at large clubs -- dribbling rum down the front of my shirt and cursing under my breath at young girls with pierced buttocks flashing views of their genetically engineered cleavage at the band.

"But until then, the ghostly bubble-drone of Tone Rodent's saturated dirges will thrill me mightily every time I see them opening for overrated national acts who merely feign interest in the sort of holographic expansionism these guys have been honing for the past several years."

ñ Riverfront Times 2/19/03

The first band [TONE RODENT] kinda reminded me of a spacemen3 thing, no chord changes, very drony and repetitive. the perfect introduction for the unpredictable electrofreakout explosion of the octopus project.

ñ www.octopusproject.com

Originally conceived as an outlet for visual artist Adam Watkins' aural experimentations, TONE RODENT has evolved into a couple of unique entites: a 4-person ensemble for the occasional live performance, and a somewhat more experimental, less structured recording unit. Both, however, center around Watkinsí musical vision, one that both frightens and inspires. On disc, things tend to be a little more atomospheric an unstructured, with spoken-word samples mixed in with the effects-laden guitars. But both versions of the Rodent have one thing in common: sheets of feedback and amps turned up to 12. Donít miss a chance to see Tone Rodent in their natural environment, at the Crowe T. Brooks Gallery on Washington Avenue. Itís an experience not to be missed!

ñ stltoday.com 3/29/02

Rumors are flying around behind the scenes at KDHX right now. But while the truth may be muddled about a lot of things, there are a few things that are for sure:

1. Community radio is a good thing.
2. KDHX knows how to hold a fundraiser.

That's why you're going to go to South Side Rocks Off this Saturday. It's almost twenty local bands in five south side venues (MoKaBe's, Upstairs Lounge, Mangia, the Jade Room and CBGB) all within easy walking distance of each other. Who says charity has to hurt?

As you may have guessed by the name, SSRO is featuring mostly rock acts, with blister-raising sets expected from garage-rockers the Gentlemen Callers, dream-rockers Tone Rodent, weird-rockers the Baysayboos and rock-rockers Palookaville. And that's just a taste.

You can pick up armbands for the whole damn thing at Vintage Vinyl or Mangia, and why wouldn't you? If you've ever bemoaned the state of "the scene," this confluence of local record labels (who are sponsoring the festival), local bands and local radio adds up to one big, fat lump of local music that you ought to support like a bra.

ñ Riverfront Times 10/01/03

St. Louis Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center w/ Tone Rodent - it's a dumpy art gallery with a bunch of dirty old couches. We're late again as the roads on our map are always closed. We play yet another set for the other band. Tone Rodent is rockin & they are very cool & stay up drinking Budweiser (the town is owned by Anheiser Busch) on the back lawn with us all night & entertaining us with funny stories. The owner of the gallery is kind enough to let us sleep on those ratty couches & his freaky art gallery is certainly not without its charm. As much as we loved the people, we decided that St. Louis is indeed the biggest shithole in middle America. We have a buttery breakfast with The PU in "The Dart Room" at this place called Blueberry Hill which is sprawling & owned by an egomaniacal entrepeneur who has pictures of himself with various rock stars plastered over every inch of the place, a terrifyingly realistic framed hologram of himself smiling psychotically at you as you walk in the door & is even having his picture taken out in front of the place by some press people as we're leaving. Tone Rodent suggested we have breakfast at The Church of Elvis but we didn't listen.

ñ Bahrain Tour Diary

Tone Rodentís not a band thatís going to play the local disco or corner pub every weekend. Or every other weekend. Or every other month, for that matter. Instead, they plays carefully selected gigs, at venues open to sounds that would be brushed aside as too harsh or abrasive for your average club-goers.

ñ stltoday.com 3/28/02

"Tone Rodent, which has a droning undertone that hurt my ears, making it hard to render proper judgment, earplugs firmly in place, we sat at the bar and we drank."

ñ Playback: St. Louis Pop Culture 4/4/03

We commend TONE RODENT, the band blends elements of British and American psyche, shoegaze and even bluesy rock, with no fear of trace inducing repetition. Long live the flange pedal.

ñ stltoday.com 5/24/02

St. Louis locals Tone Rodent have quickly become one of the most exciting bands in the area bringing sonic explorations and experimentation and manipulation to the masses by way of a psychdelic fuzz, layers and washes of sound creating vast space through repetition and ìnoiseî-sometimes simple, but nevertheless completely awe inspiring and often breathtaking. Tone Rodent marks a welcome return to ìshoegazing.î

ñ 4:Music