One would not expect to use the word opus when discussing the mid-'90s D.C./Virginia
indie pop scene that revolved around the
Teenbeat and
Simple Machines record labels. This was a scene that fed on 7" records and four-track cassette-only releases. With
Exploder, Washington, D.C.'s
Eggs proved that their four-minute
pop excursions could come together to form a cohesive double album by combined the familiar
Beatlesque melodies with raucous
post-punk noise and tongue-in-cheek quirkiness. Unlike
Eggs' debut album,
Bruiser, which was in essence a solo project for singer/guitarist
Andrew Beaujon,
Exploder was created by a more permanent ensemble, including bassist
Evan Schurack and guitarist/trombonist
Rob Christiansen (the lack of a permanent drummer is comically addressed in an entire page of the liner notes). The result is a much more confident and diverse performance.
"Why Am I So Tired All the Time" delivers a professional version of the "we just wrote this five minutes ago" style, while
"Salsa Garden" makes a case for just how dramatic and full sounding a shoestring
indie band can be.
"Saturday's Cool" is a
garage band's shot at '70s
rock bombast, complete with ridiculous harmonies and an a
Yes-inspired synthesizer solo. The finest moment on the album comes at
"Evanston," an exquisitely written song which lacks any sly referential treatment. Dispersed between the complete songs is the occasional 30-second sound collage. The CD release even contains one-minute silent tracks to mark the breaks where the listener would have to flip the sides of the vinyl version. Mixed at
Inner Ear Studios, best known as the recording home for D.C.'s other great musical leaders,
Fugazi,
Eggs clearly intended to raise the bar on the quality of records coming from themselves and their peers. They succeeded by creating one of the most outstanding and timeless albums to come out of that scene. ~ Joshua Glazer
