Fat Possum Records

Human Switchboard - Who's Landing in my Hangar? [Marbled purple vinyl] - New LP

$ 19.00

2019 reissue of 1981 album. Marbled purple vinyl. Ohio rocks!

Mark Demming: "Most music writers seemed incapable of discussing Human Switchboard without mentioning the Velvet Underground, and there's no getting around the fact Rob Pfeifer's melodic style and clipped vocal delivery bears a certain resemblance to what Lou Reed was doing back in his formative days. But there's an emotional tension and sexual paranoia in Pfeifer's work that sets him decidedly apart from the Velvets and their many followers, and songs like "This Town" and "Refrigerator Door" speak of a grim, landlocked existence that would likely not have occurred to anyone outside of the Midwest. And while Pfeifer's jagged guitar has a certain Velvets-like quality, the homey buzz of Myrna Marcarian's Farfisa organ makes it clear there's more than a little garage in this band's formula, and there's a weary wisdom to Marcarian's occasional vocals that's human and endearing. While Human Switchboard left behind a pair of live documents, Who's Landing in My Hangar? was their only studio album, and while the Spartan, low-budget production isn't always flattering to the band's sound, the cutting emotional clarity of these songs shines through; perhaps this isn't the ideal Human Switchboard album, but it leaves no doubt that they were a great, passionate band with plenty to say, and Who's Landing in My Hangar preserves ten of their best songs for the ages."

DaggerZINE: "Back in the 90’s a pal, Don Rettman actually, was visiting me out in California and he had gone to a record store and found this album, handed it to me and said “I got this for you…you like melodic stuff, I think you’ll really like it.” He was right. The Cleveland, OH-based trio of Bob Pfeifer on guitar vocals, Myrna Marcarian on piano/organ/vocals and drummer Ron Metz certainly created a unique sound, one that’s hard to pin down, even today. There’s an obvious love of the Velvet Underground but I also hear garage rock of the 60’s and some snarls of the punk scene that was just getting started. The way these three (with a rotating cast of bass players) blended all of these elements into this spell binding stew is, well, unique and spell binding. They set the tone from the get go with the incredible opener “(say no to) Saturday’s Girl’ and then rip right into the classic title track. Later on “No Heart’ goes off the rails in a frenzied freakout (in the best way possible) while the Marcarian-sung “I Can Walk Alone” is a pulsing, driving monster. That’s just a handful of the tunes here but there’s 10 songs in all and not a dog in the pack. This was the band’s only full-length but they definitely made it count. This beautiful reissue that was long overdue (it got reissued on cd on the Bar None label in 2011). Keep this one in print now and forever. "

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