Beyond Elysium and Into the 7th Layer

Bully Pulpit was probably more of an excuse to accommodate some geographically challenged friendships than it was a band (in the strict sense of the word, anyway), with no touring and few if any local shows in support of this or the ill-fated follow-up. Perhaps that's a good thing, because this record embodies a number of things that were great about the early- to mid-'90s D.I.Y. recording boom. This is some fun and admittedly very strange music by a collective that did little outside of "the studio." Heard here are seven or so members from different indie/punk groups (Zoom, Poster Children, Hz Roundtable, etc.) putting together some loose arrangements and recording them in an old barn in Lawrence, KS. Many of these songs are multi-tracked guitar workouts, sound collages, and psychedelic mood pieces, but this is not to say that they were without any pop inclinations. The album's opener, "You Flatter Me," and the Beach Boys cover, "Busy Doin' Nothin'," are as sweet as "Gentle Rocking for Baby" is flat-out weird. The closest comparison with regard to overall sound and song sequencing would be Thinking Fellers Union Local No. 282, but that would discount the distinctly Midwestern new wave/punk guitar heard throughout this scattered — but ultimately very rewarding — disc.