Linus Pauling Quartet Blog

Our Blog is Moving...

2011-05-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone....

It's still in development right now but we are in the process of slowly moving this over to wordpress on the main LP4 website. Right now we are importing this blog to the new location as well as messing with the look and feel of the site. It's not much to look at now but it's gonna be cool once we are done and, more importantly, we will be better able to blog and update people on what we are doing.
Here is the link:
http://www.worshipguitars.org/LP4/LP4_WordPress/

KTRU Farewell to 40 Years of (Analog) FM Radio

2011-05-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

A last minute show folks.

Come join us this Friday as we say farewell to 40 years of independent student run analog FM radio in Houston. Thankfully the station lives on on KPFT’s HD signal and on the air but there was something magical and wonderful about having a an analog signal that could be heard anywhere and without special equipment. All that aside, it should be a fun show. It’s free, all ages, and it’s gonna be lovely weather at that. Seee you guys there.

Oh man, we have a show on Saturday at Walters

2011-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks. We aren't dead, just recording. We've been so zoned into the whole recording process that we've kind of ignored this blog for the last few months. No worries, we'll start posting here more regularly on what we are up to as we have lots of neat stuff coming up. That includes our show on Saturday with super cool fellows stoner rockers, Radio Moscow...

We'll be playing some new songs at the show that we're working on for the new album. Expect lots of heavy riffs and some confusion as some of these songs have parts that are a bit open ended. But hey, we like to play on a wire and the other bands kick ass so see you there.

Oh and keep on the lookout for more posts here as we ramp up for the summer.

Girls Rock Camp benefit this Saturday ar Rudz

2010-12-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

"Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!"

Hark ye lost souls seeking to escape the drudgery of your daily toil by visiting this board, for Saturday marks the day of Girls Rock Camp Houston's Christmas Benefit.

Yeah, for on this very Saturday on the eighteenth day of December in the year of our lord two-thousand and ten at 2010 Waugh Drive and a wee pub dubbed Rudyard's ye shall be visited by three spirits. The first, Omotai, shall crush you with unrelenting Christmas spirit of grinding metal. Weep for mercy ye shall from the blur of notes and the groan of hell's vocals. The second spirit goes by the name of The Anarchitex. Culled from the darkest corners of Houston Punk history it's members boast a lineage unparalleled in this dimension. Surely names like the The Pain Teens, Really Red, and Happy Fingers Institute already chill your very soul. Finally, the final and most frightening apparition will appear as the clock tolls the midnight hour. It's dark shadow long feared by mortals, it's terrifying rock visage shunned by humanity, it's sounds...nothing less than pure horror. I speak to you of The Linus Pauling Quartet. At stake is your very soul for their cause is a worthy one - a benefit for young women who simply have one wish for Christmas, one very simple and innocent wish, the kind of wish that children pray for as they fall asleep at night - the dream of ROCKING THE FUCK OUT!

Yeah, in fact there will be no cover at the appointed locale but donations will be taken all night ($7 -$10 but you can give more) and your monetary contribution will help fund musical equipment needs such as instruments - lutes, fifes, bladder pipes, rauschpfeifes, sacbuts - strings, plugs for the ears, amplification systems, materials and supplies for non-musical workshops, and scholarships for families who cannot afford to pay the full tuition to attend the camp.

Therefore, I implore your kind assistance. Grab thine red and gold robe, white breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat, head for the square with thine bell and announce this event from every town square and ask people one simple question, "Old Dirty Bastard was for the children, are you?"

Thank you,
Screaming Lord Highmiddlebottom VonRock and Heavy Friends

Girls Rock Camp Houston Christmas Benefit - Saturday, December 18, 2010

2010-12-02T11:24:00.001-08:00

You know what Santa digs?
Rock and Roll!
Rock and Roll played by Girls!!!
So what better way to get on his good side than to help Girls Rock Camp Houston's 2011 program.

Saturday December 18th at Rudyard's we will have the crushing and unrelenting might of Omotai, the action packed all-star team of the Anarchitex (with members of The Pain Teens, Really Red, Happy Fingers Institute, etc etc. etc.) and The Linus Pauling Quartet (that would be us) playing selections from the upcoming 2011 double LP Bag of Hammers largely because we forget how to play the old stuff after a while.

There will be no cover but we will be taking donations all night. We suggest something like $7 -$10 but you can give more.

Your monetary contribution will help fund musical equipment needs (such as instruments, amps, PAs, guitar strings, ear plugs, etc.), materials and supplies for non-musical workshops, and scholarships for families who cannot afford to pay the full tuition to attend the camp. Happy Holidays.

Tonight (Tuesday 11/09/2010) Live on KTRU 91.7fm

2010-11-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight on the KTRU local show
(8 - 10pm central standard time)
It's The Linus Pauling Quartet!!!

Yes, fans of guitar string frequency oscillation - tonight is your night. The Linus Pauling Quartet will be playing The KTRU Local Show and we guarantee such exciting fare as:

* 82.41 Hz
* 110.00 Hz
* 146.83 Hz
* 196.00 Hz
* 246.94 Hz
* 329.63 Hz

Yes, hear flat or sharp guitars constantly increasing or decreasing their oscillations in a vain attempt to reach and maintain these ideal frequencies!

BONUS DVD features include:
* feel the rush of dirty pots on wah pedals squeaking!!!
* experience Mexican radio through a Vox amp!!!
* marvel at vocal mic feedback!!
* hear such classic catch phrases as "Is this in Drop-D?" and "How does this song go again?"
* your mind will be blown with erratic tempo shifts, solos in the wrong key, and epic string breakage!!!

The Linus Pauling Quartet - Live In Joe Mathlete's Living Room

2010-10-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

This project was a bit delayed as we'd hoped to have it done in time for Tonystock but alas, we are Linus and things just get done whenever they get done ya know? ...because well...hell... we're just complicated, OK? Anyhow, thing is we missed that deadline but also intended this for Joe's "in the living room series" and Joe finally published it on the 29-95 website today.

I can't recall what songs we recorded that day but I do recall it ended after we went into a cover of Can's "Sunshine Girl" that ended the set with guitars in need of a visit to the guitar tech. Unfortunately Joe's main camera's batteries gave out but somewhere out there the footage awaits release. What we do have is three songs - 40oz (from ATAL), Hamburger Girl (from Immortal Chinese Classics), and a medley of The Linus Theme and Mournebong (also from the first album) - performed in a low key setting with bongos and acoustic guitars.

So, check out the link below and see if you can guess which member of the LP4 doesn't know how to play Stairway to Heaven.

29-95.com: Live from Joe Mathlete's living room: Linus Pauling Quartet

Album Release for Horns of Ammon is tomorrow!!!!

2010-10-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

Well hell,

Here it is Friday afternoon and we have two shows tomorrow for the new album Horns of Ammon. The cover is made by our good friend Chris Cascio and we're pretty stoked. As Larry put it, we're hosing down the vault before moving on to the new material (that we hope to have released early in 2011 under the name Bag of Hammers) and so Horn of Ammon is really a bunch of songs that we really are proud of but because of tracking and/or time limits never made it on previous releases and since they were all written between C6 and ATAL, it represents a period where we were experimenting with vocals and melody as opposed to just guitar riffing and so they seem to kind of fit together style and mood wise. And for fun we threw-in "HAWG!!!" which if you missed the original 13 CD-R edition, here is your second chance to enjoy this 11 minute 2 chord Biker classic.

Anyhow, here is the cover for the new album:

As for the shows,

Well, it should be pretty awesome. We've got a day show at Cactus where local brewery St. Arnold's will providing free err... refreshments. Then in the evening we'll be playing over on the Kohn's garage roof with the downtown skyline behind us. Plus, we'll have our good friends Chris Cascio, Hearts of Animals, and The Mathletes performing as well. It's all free and we'll have copies of the new CD for sale.

3:00PM
Cactus Music in-store (Free)
Linus Pauling Quartet

----AND-----

7:00-10:00PM (Free)
On the Khon’s Garage Roof
2808 Milam

9:00pm Linus Pauling Quartet
8:00pm The Mathletes
7:30pm Hearts Of Animals
7:00pm Chris Cascio

PS. Our good friends Giant Princess are also having a record release on the same day over at Fitzgerald's. We plan on heading over after our show and you should too. Here is a link for the full details over at Indie Houston.

Album release Poster

2010-09-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

We're a bit behind on our blogging and we promise we'll catch up with a what we did over the summer post soon but for now here is the poster for our upcoming record release.

The Linus Pauling Quartet tonight on KTRU - Rice's besieged student run station

2010-08-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

We will be performing with a host of other local bands tonight on the KTRU local show. For those outside of Houston who are unaware, Rice University has quietly negotiated for the sale of the Student Run Radio Station over the summer while the students were away. KTRU has been an invaluable part of the community and... in particular the music community in Houston. Exposing listeners to artists that would otherwise not have a way to reach their audience. To kill the station after 40 years of broadcasting would be a huge loss for the city and given the secretive manner in which the deal was handled, a sad day for students at Rice University.

Please be so good as to check out SaveKTRU.org below and lend your support.

See you guys at 8pm central time on KTRU radio on 91.7fm.
This may be the last time but we hope not.

Egads! 7" is on Youtube...

2010-06-04T11:49:00.001-07:00

Weirdness, we only just released this last week and already the 7" is on Youtube.

First review for the new 7" is in....

2010-05-27T13:51:00.001-07:00

Well it looks like the new single got some love over at Space City Rock. Jeremy Hart wrote:

"...First off, the Quartet’s track, “Monster,” eschews the band’s trademark thundering guitar attack (at least at first) in favor of a hypnotic, raga-sounding drone that brings to mind the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” of all things; definitely not what I was expecting, given the band’s general leanings...

The sitar-esque guitars, the repetitive riffs, the flat, Donovan-sounding vocals — put it all together, and you could be forgiven for thinking you’d slapped on the wrong damn record. But hey, they make it work surprisingly well...

The track comes off like Nick Cave doing some kind of half-sarcastic take on raw garage rock, and it’s frighteningly addictive."

You can read the full review at Space City Rock

Thanks Jeremy. We're glad you liked it.

Linus Pauling Quartet/ST37 Split 7" Release shows in Austin and Houston (5/28 & 5/29)

2010-05-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hide your women! Hide your children! Long has it been since its horrendous visage has fouled a stage, yet much like C'thulu, The LP4 rises again this month!

The LP4's return shall be marked by the arrival of small polyvinyl chloride discs containing new musical incantations. Etched into this disc will be Monster, a song that will send aurally induced psychedelic visions of such frightening depths that words are rendered useless. The disc will also include a track by Austin's ST37 who have created their own interpretation of Helios Creed's Lactating Purple that will cause such psychotroic harm to your cerebral cortex that you may spend the rest of your days as a drooling madman. [Update] And yes, ~~both the events~~ the Houston event will render unto you a free copy of the split 7" single. The Austin event will not render you a free 7" but there will be no cover.

On hand for this blackest of evenings will be Golden Cites (5/29 in Houston) and Book of Shadows (5/28 in Austin) both of which should send shudders from an instinctual subconscious fear that has lurked deep in our species since its earliest days.

The locations are no less frightful and mysterious. In Houston, the site is Rudyard's British Pub whose dark wooden interior hides a dark secret - a secret so dark that few dare speak its name but for the primitives of the Montrose who are known to mutter Rudzburger is fearful tones. Meanwhile, the Austin locale is no less a source of terror. I could explain to you what unspeakable acts occurred there but you would mistake my utterances for those of a lunatic. Yet, I believe its name alone speaks volumes to this indescribable horror - Cheer Up Charlie's.

Heed this warning mortals and behold the poster art below! The time is nigh upon us!

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

Houston Show ($7 includes 7" Single)

Austin Show (Free but does not includes 7" Single)

(art by Orion Medina-Guerrero 8 yrs)

Split 7" Artwork Revealed and Two Release Shows Announced

2010-05-04T11:24:00.001-07:00

We commissioned artist Eli Sebastian Brumbaugh to illustrate our upcoming split 7" with ST 37. Below is the lovely and intricate final result of his labors and, needless to say, we are pretty thrilled. We've sent the full-resolution versions over to our good friends over at I Heart U who will be making a screen for us. We will then take the screen and hand-screen the covers ourselves in various lovely colors.

If all goes as planned with United Records, (and it looks like it will since we just got the test pressing today) you will be able to hold one of these in your hands when you attend one of our two 7" release shows in May. The first is on Friday 28 May at Cheer Up Charlie's in Austin and the second is on Saturday 29 May at Rudyards British Pub in Houston. We'll have further details soon.

Thank you Eli.

Yo foo'! Quit yo jubba jabba and check it out!!

2010-03-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's the inner label for the upcoming 7"! Wow!

OK so it's not as exciting as the cover Eli is gonna make for us but this is important because this had to be completed before we could send off the masters to United Record Pressing. Now that it is done, we will be shipping off our stuff to URP this week.

Keep a look out for record release shows in Houston and Austin in the next few months.

The Linus Pauling Quartet's choice for 2012

2010-03-12T12:07:00.001-08:00

Oh HELL yes!

Clinton explains the decision:
"Ramon and I have patched up our political differences with the ultimate Presidential campaign ticket -- NIXON + TYNER! There's something in it for both of us -- Nixon, probably the smartest Prez we've ever had in modern times, his domestic policy was pretty liberal for a Republican yet still market-oriented, tough but realistic about foreign policy, and completely and utterly corrupt. Tyner - drug addled, woman chasing pseudo-revolutionary spewing random word salad and wearing rhinestone spandex and a fro the size of the Hindenburg.

Their campaign motto?

TRICKY DICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!"

The LP4 Dry Erase Board

2010-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

We are all pretty excited, since Larry bought a new dry erase board. I don't know about most folks but for me, when yr. just figuring out an arrangement, it's good to have some kind of simple visual reference to follow until you have it all finalized. So, to give you a peek at the mind of Linus, here are two songs we are working on:

Star Chimp

Crom

New album cover????

2010-02-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

'K maybe not.

We're in the usual round of coming up with a title for our next album. Now the late 2010 heavy-duty album's title, Bag Of Hammers, is a pretty done deal but the one we plan to release before that one was still up in the air. Most everyone liked The Many Moods of Linus which was Clinton's nod to Throbbing Gristle. I threw in my two cents and said I thought that the neo-lounge thing was a bit old hat even though I know that was not Clinton's point of reference for the title. Anyhow, the usual discussion then took place and as Linus discussions go, they go south. In this case Dirty South as Clinton finally trumped us all with this:

So Long story short...

The Many Moods of Linus it is.

2010

2010-01-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

It's chill time here for the LP4. As you can see from the photo, Steve Finley is off skiing. The rest of us, meanwhile, have been taking time off to enjoy the holidays and, in the interim 29-95.com listed All Things Are Light as one of Houston's top 100 albums of the decade. But fear not, we are not resting on our laurels. As we mentioned in our last post, we're moving forward with a hella lotta activity in 2010.

Yes, you may have been lulled into complacency in 2009 but, much like Cthulu, the LP4 has only been quietly biding it's time - waiting for the right time in which to rise from the depths.

Hide your women, hide your children: we are Linus!

Happy New Year, friends and fans alike!

Hi friends, we've been a bit busy since our last post.

2009-10-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hi LP4 fans,

As you can see by the image of HAM we've lately been obsessed with the idea of space chimps for no good goddamn reason. In our research on we ran across this article from TimesOnline.com that chronicled how sadly our heroic chimp-o-nauts have had it over the years. Luckily, Save the Chimps has been doing some good work and you can even adopt a chimp. We particularly like Gromek the chimp because he has bad-ass name so expect that name to appear in some lyric at some point.

At this point, you are likely asking "Sure primates in space are cool but what else have you guys been up to?" OK then...

Well, we've been pretty busy in the studio lately and so haven't been out playing shows or much else. We did have a chance to open for Shonen Knife on November 9th at Mangos (Larry and I are huge fans) but once we realized it had become a four band bill on a Monday night we thought it would best for everyone concerned to not clog up the bill with four bands and so we gracefully bowed out. Still, if you are in Houston you should definitely check out the show, we'll be there (of course off the stage).

Personal commitments forced us to have to cancel our playing two excellent festivals (This fall's Block Party on November 14th and 15th and a cool psych fest being put on by our friends at Golden Cities on December 5th). Sadly, it doesn't look like we're going to play any shows before year's end which is a shame because shows are always fun.

On the bright side, we have been pretty productive in the studio.

We have a split 7" with our good friends ST37 that we hope to have out early next year. The song we've picked is one called "Monster" which is pretty much what you'd expect when people say "Texas Psych" and ST37 are doing a cover of Helios Creeds' "Lactating Purple." We're looking at a run of like 300 with silk screened covers (prepared and designed by a local artist and screened by ourselves).

We also expect to have a CD album of odds and sods we've had kicking around for some time in the spring of 2010. It's stuff that was mainly recorded and written between Killing You With Rock and All Things Are Light. The material is a lot more focused on melody than just chimpy guitar riffs so if you are expecting the muscle riffs of ATAL you may be disappointed beyond the re-issue of HAWG!. That said it's solid stuff and if you've kept up with our myspace you've likely heard older mixes and recordings of songs like "Porno In the sink" (which we re-recorded with a drunken piano part that's pretty aces).

Add to that the fact that we are looking at releasing a full length LP by the end of 2010 of all new material. If you are in Houston you've likely heard some of the material live but some of it is stuff that is still in the gestation stage of songwriting. The material though seems to be along the lines of ATAL in terms of the heavy riffage. If You've heard the demo of "She Did Not Know" on our Myspace you'll know what to expect.

And as for recent press...

Pauling On Line: The Good folks at this blog devoted to our favorite scientist gave us a passing mention in this article which was an epic thrill for us: Clarifying Three Widespread Quotes

The Examiner: Trevor Wallace wrote a nice interview with us: The Linus Pauling Quartet: space, dope, monkeys and D & D

Astral Headspace: The folks here dug back and gave their (you could say belated) top 10 albums of 2007 and All Things are Light scored the bronze: All Things Are Light - Linus Pauling Quartet #3. Thanks guys, that's awful nice.

Here is a post for You Tube that they made for "Waiting For the Axe To Fall":

Well that is all friends.

And so Clinton came down from the mountain with these 5 commandments.

2009-07-30T07:02:00.001-07:00

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail conversation Clinton and I had yesterday in which Clinton lays out the 5 commandments of Linus.

Here are some things that LP4 members should NOT do:

1) Give guitars to women. Especially vintage guitars. No good can ever come of this.

2) Text women during practice, even during exceptionally long and tedious guitar solos by one's bandmates

3) Avoid load-out so they can get some booty

4) Go to see highly questionable shows just because some woman they are into is there

and ESPECIALLY

5) Give up drinking for any reason other than avoiding imminent, massive organ failure - and even then, it comes up for a vote

These Principles have stood the force of time, reinforced by the Wisdom of all, and continuing to flout them will undoubtedly result in exceptionally Bad Karma.

We're playing Saturday August 1st with ST37 & Giant Princess! Come on Out!

2009-07-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Poster By Lindsey Simard
(Right click to enlarge)

Hey comic book fans, you may recognize the artwork above as being that of Lindsey Simard of the KTRU Post-Punk Show as well as the much beloved Weak Highlights comix. Colorful awesomeness isn't it! The show itself should be just as awesome. We've got the ever bad-ass Giant Princess opening the show who are a band that sound like what an Indie-Pop band would sound like if they ever were on International Artists. I personally really love the song Adventure and it's almost obscene to have them open given how balls out their live shows are. In Headlining Middle slot (this is Houston after all and nobody wants to play last) is Austin's Psych-rock masters ST37. We've played with them a million times over the years but this time should be special as it's their first tour in I believe Five years. I remember driving up to Austin to see their last record release a few years back and all I could say was it was worth the drive. So come on out, set a spell, and enjoy a fine night of music at (our home base) Rudyards.

It's July and we're playing Mangos with Fired For Walking and Novox on the 18th

2009-07-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

Anyhow we had a blast the Harvey Milk/Bolt show last month. Bolt are fast becoming one of the more fun bands in Houston (shamelessly swiping from T-Rex and early Bowie) though arguably the normally excellent sound at Rudz failed them for some reason. I'd seen them three times now and this was the one time they seemed off to me. Hey no worries, I was pretty sick that day with a horrible cold and had to clock in a show. I think that's the first time I'd done that but it was all I could do to just hit the notes given my condition. Playing sick is pretty lame, I tell you what, but the show must go on. It reminds me of a time where I had a hundred degree fever (I later passed out at home I was so sick) and there I was laying on the studio couch as we went over remixes - stupid! Anyhow, I digress, Point is Harvey Milk closed and holy shit were they amazing. Even through all my sickness drama I was still blown away. The band was probably one of the most heavy bands I'd ever seen and the singer sang with a roar that would have made a grizzly stop its charge, cower, and run away. Fucking amazing! I hope they make it back in town and I'm in better health.

That was back in May but this is July and we have a show coming up now that Clinton is back from the EU...
Nice poster huh? One of the Fired For Walking dudes did it. FFW are the band that still carries the 90's torch with flair and Novox are one of Houston's best (if criminally under appreciated) instrumental rock acts. Plus it's at Mangos (my FPH editor and chief's wife's new restaurant/bar/venue) where you can get your vegetarian/vegan on and order at ODB for breakfast or choose between a Castro or Zapatista pizza. Anyhow, see ya there no?

Oh and PS, we're playing with our good buddies ST37 and Giant Princess at Rudyard's on August 1st too so Mark you calendars.

Saturday 23 May 2009 - Harvey Milk, LP4, Bolt, & Ghost Town Electric @ Rudyards

2009-05-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're playing with Athens, GA's heavy Harvey Milk, local cool cats Roky Moon and Bolt (who sound like they absorbed every T-Rex and Bowie record from the early 70's in a good way and thankfully left the corny clothes and make-up behind), and power trio Ghost Town Electric. It's Four Bands so the doors are at 8 with music at starting at 9pm so get there early.

Hope to see you there.

All Things Are Light goes digital

2009-05-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, all things are light is now available on most music services including EMusic, ITunes, Yahoo Music, La La, and a whole bunch more.

So if you missed out on our vinyl copies here is you chance to score the digital version. and dont forget all the inserts, lyrics, and art are available on the LP's media page.