Sign On! – Human Conduct Records, Part 2: The Many Faces of Rick Weaver

by Nolan Conaway | January 12th 2010, 9:30 AM

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MP3: The Ruined Frame – My Sex Is A Dead Thing from Breath & Pulse (2009)
MP3: The Ruined Frame – Two Travelers from The Weight of ALL Filth (2008)
MP3: The New Flesh – A Lesson In Manners from Hall of Heads (2009)

In this post I’ll attempt to provide a brief survey of a few fresh releases from The New Flesh and The Ruined Frame–in what might otherwise become known as “the Rick Weaver Hour.” Now, this is not to say that Mr. Weaver doesn’t deserve it. In addition to his percussive work for the New Flesh, the Human Conduct co-founder also acts as frontman for The Ruined Frame. Once more, his name probably emerges in the credits for a great number of other releases within the label–and pretty much everywhere else when you’re talking about Human Conduct. Honestly though, I don’t see how we can so effortlessly unite The New Flesh and The Ruined Frame outside of the Weaver link. Side by side, the two projects represent oppositional musical polarities: the harsh distortion typically penned by the New Flesh feels even more brutal in the face of The Ruined Frame’s freaky folk rock. Where one group’s desolate waveforms attempt to rid their listener of an appetite, the other uses satiated song structure to fill their audience’s stomach.

As I already established in the last post, I’ll be examining the sound of Human Conduct Records using descriptive criticism almost exclusively. The full endeavor is to ignore, as much as I deem it necessary, my longing to investigate abstract logic as it relates to artistry. You can check the last post for my in-depth statement of intention. Without further ado, here’s the Rick Weaver Hour:

The Ruined Frame – Breath & Pulse

Rick Weaver makes songs. Not tracks, not jams, not tunes, not singles. Songs. He condenses what could be–and often is–a grandiose artform into an effective all-purpose package: few-verse melodies with attention to detail. Weaver’s shredded vocals sound like a bad trip to the carnival; his subject matter scarcely deviates (song titles include “My Sex Is A Dead Thing”, “Shot Of Terror”, and “Scenes From The Levels Of Suffering”), but who says value can’t be found in the disturbed? Breath & Pulse is equal freak for its folk, less filler per minute, and streamlined for optimal potency. In other words, an easy favorite.

The Ruined Frame Quartet – The Weight of ALL Filth

Unfortunately, The Weight Of ALL Filth doesn’t quite match Breath & Pulse. All the affectation in Weaver’s vocals seemed to have vanished, and the instrumentals feel like a flat faced indie-rock headache. I picture a half-baked beer-buddy “supergroup,” lead by one Rick Weaver, too caught up in his fruitless guitarwork to consider what could be made: more of the phenomenal aesthetic that his Ruined Frame name produces so well. If you want the real Ruined Frame experience, just pick up Breath & Pulse.

The New Flesh

The following images were drawn in response to The New Flesh’s Hall Of Heads and Dog B/W Memory Scrap. The subject matter, medium, and presentation are all an attempt to more accurately interpret The New Flesh’s aural proposition.

Hall Of Heads