Take the lyrical inventiveness of They Might Be Giants and mix it with the rollicking ska sound of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, add a decidedly klezmer edge, or maybe the country twang of Camper Van Beethoven, and you might be able to approximate the sound of the Gainesville, FL ensemble called PopCanon. This band includes the alumni of orchestras and jazz bands, but on this CD they definitely chart their own course.
As many reviewers have suggested, it might better be called "The Kingdom of College-Educated Rock," as this list of songs about philosophy and major literary figures makes plain:
Song 4, "Wanda Tinasky," about the irascible woman who is of particular interest to fans of Thomas Pynchon.
Song 7, "René René," a humble love song to philosopher and mathematician René Descartes.
Song 9, "Bloomsday," about an oral reading of James Joyce's Ulysses juxtaposed with the birthday crucifixion of a punk rocker.
Song 10, "Labyrinths," a jazzy tribute to Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges.
Song 13, "Treasure of the Temple," inspired by Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.
Song14, "Robert Coover," another in a series of songs about postmodernist writers.
The lyrics of the songs are definitely thought-provoking; but the main strength of the band is clearly its infectious sense of rhythm and the variety of its instrumental performances. They run the full gamut, through 12-string acoustic guitars, electric guitars, fretless bass, drums, piano, trombone, tuba, cornet, saxophones and violins. This is one "symphonic" mix!
Band Members: David Hornbuckle, Ned Davis, Michael Murphy, Blue Lang,
Alyson Carrel, Don Undeen, Lórien Carsey.

Wanda Tinasky

Wanda Tinasky likes to watch the TV
And when she scrubs the john she always leaves it on.
She dances in her slippers and dreams of Jack the Ripper.
She'll write the A.V.A. about her busy day.

(Chorus)
And no one's ever seen her
Under her bridge in Mendocino

Wanda's got her eyes on the Pulitzer prize
She'll tell her friend St. Thomas to add a chapter on us.
I wonder what she'll do now that her work is through.
She's standing somewhere waiting to watch the airplanes mating.

chorus

She's got a get-up-and-go-etry.
She's got a Pynchon for poetry.
And the AVA will tell her they're on her side.
Wanda was full of rage back in the Reagan age,
But now she's fallen silent. At least she isn't violent.
I know so much about her, how could I live without her?
She's standing somewhere waiting to watch the airplanes mating.

chorus

The Kingdom of Idiot Rock
$10.00. Pop Canon / Audio CD / Released 1997

Bloomsday -- A song that juxtaposes a Bloomsday reading with a performance art crucifixion. Detailed at Bronze by Gold.

Labyrinths -- This jazzy homage to Borges is found at the Garden of Forking Paths.

The Treasure of the Temple -- This song, inspired by Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, is featured at Porta Ludovica.

PopCanon Web Page -- PopCanon has yet to be signed by a major label, but they have been developing quite a following in Florida, and they support themselves vigorously through newsletters, mailing lists, and a full Web page. You can visit their page, where you can learn more about the band and purchase their CDs.

Reviews of Kingdom -- They definitely make for some fun reading.

PopCanon Earth Headquarters
POB 14872
Gainesville, FL 32604
Hot Line: (352) 377-8978
E-mail: popcanon@popcanon.com
PopCanOnLine: www.popcanon.com

 

Anderson, Laurie. Famous New York performance artist Laurie Anderson dedicated a song to Pynchon on her Mister Heartbreak album.	Benatar, Pat. Believe it or not, she named a final album Gravity's Rainbow.
Benny Profane. English hard rockers from Liverpool, they took their name from a character in V.	Blowtorch, Eric Reggae influenced artist putting Pynchon's lyrics to music.
Cassiber. An avant garde German group used Gravity's Rainbow to tell a different tale.	Corey, Prof. Irwin. The man who was the infamous stand-in for Thomas Ruggles Pynchon.
Dangtrippers. They recorded Maxwell's Demon Box on their album, Days Between Stations.	Einhorn, Richard. Another rendition of music devoted to the Demon, and much more.
Fariña, Richard. An long-time friend of Pynchon, this folkie named an instrumental work after a Pynchon novel.	Favorite Color, The. A New Jersey band sets a selection from V. to music on their album Color Out of Space (1996).
Fool, The. Surely not Slothrop's band, this was a short lived group which did, in fact, have a harmonica player.	Forked Yew. Independent, highly experimental rockers and Pynchon fans from the American South.
Frith & Kaiser. An instrumental pair with a piece called The Kirghiz Light.	Hall, Ed. An early 90's band influenced by Pynchon, they named a song Roger Mexico.
Insect Trust. This jazzy, psychedelic group mined V. for lyrics to The Eyes of a New York Woman.	Jazz Butcher. AKA Pat Fish, who named a track Looking for Lot 49 on his Fishcoteque album.
Jones, Spike. Pynchon himself wrote the liner notes for Spiked!	Knopfler, Mark. The Sultan of Swing sails to Philadelphia!
Koron, Barry. Weilding the Sjambok never felt so good!	Lot 49 (Ontario). This now retired hardcore outfit hailed from the hometown of Spermatikos Logos' own Laurence Daw.
Lot 49 (NYC). Indie NYC rockers named after Pynchon's second novel.	Lotion. A New York group whose liner notes were penned by the Man himself.
Maas. A visit to San Narciso.	Nirvana. Was the famous tune Smells Like Teen Spirit acutally inspired by a song from Gravity's Rainbow?
Nova Mob. A "Rock Opera" filled with references to Gravity's Rainbow.	Ocker, David. Musical meditations on Eight Facts About Thomas Pynchon.
Okasek, Ric. Ride The Rocket with the former frontman of The Cars.
Pere Ubu. David Thomas' legendary, seminal band shows some Pynchon influences.	PopCanon. These literate Indies hail from Flordia, and have a song about Wanda Tinasky which is highly recomm-ended!
Poster Children. This group from Champaign, Illinois, covers a lot of Pynchon ground!	Radiohead. English art-rockers who incorporate many Pynchon motifs into their work.
Rapoon. An offshoot of Zoviet France, Robin Storey's group named Rapoon released an album called The Kirghiz Light.	Sauter & Dietrich, Moore. More liner notes written by Pynchon !!
Six Finger Satellite. Indie electro-rock futurists Six Finger Satellite make a reference to Gravity's Rainbow.	Soft Machine. Seminal "proggies," they recorded a full-scale work called Esther's Nose Job in 1969.
Spock's Beard. In memory of "the evil Spock," they do homage to V.	Time in Malta. A California metal group with a name taken from V.
Ware, Tim. Pynchon scholar, Web master, and MIDI Musician.	Whole Sick Crew, The. Purveyors of pirate folk-punk, truly a gang like their Pynchon namesakes.
XXX Atomic Toejam. F. Thorendal, from praised thrash-heroes Meshuggah, gets one in for the Vikings.	Yo La Tengo. Making music indebted to The Crying of Lot 49.
Yoyodyne. Related to New York's Lot 49, ths Florida group also takes their name from Pynchon's work.	Zevon, Warren. He recently released an album containing work inspired by Pynchon.

Anderson, Laurie.
Famous New York performance artist Laurie Anderson dedicated a song to Pynchon on her Mister Heartbreak album.

Benatar, Pat.
Believe it or not, she named a final album Gravity's Rainbow.

Benny Profane.
English hard rockers from Liverpool, they took their name from a character in V.

Blowtorch, Eric
Reggae influenced artist putting Pynchon's lyrics to music.

Cassiber.
An avant garde German group used Gravity's Rainbow to tell a different tale.

Corey, Prof. Irwin.
The man who was the infamous stand-in for Thomas Ruggles Pynchon.

Dangtrippers.
They recorded Maxwell's Demon Box on their album, Days Between Stations.

Ed Hall.
An early 90's band influenced by Pynchon, they named a song Roger Mexico.

Fariña, Richard.
An long-time friend of Pynchon, this folkie named an instrumental work after a Pynchon novel.

Fool, The.
Surely not Slothrop's band, this was a short lived group which did, in fact, have a harmonica player.

Forked Yew.
Independent, highly experimental rockers and Pynchon fans from the American South.

Insect Trust.
This jazzy, psychedelic group mined V. for lyrics to The Eyes of a New York Woman.

Jazz Butcher.
AKA Pat Fish, who named a track Looking for Lot 49 on his Fishcoteque album.

Jones, Spike.
Pynchon himself wrote the liner notes for Spiked!

Lot 49 (Ontario).
This now retired hardcore outfit hailed from the hometown of Spermatikos Logos' own Laurence Daw.

Lot 49 (NYC).
Indie NYC rockers named after Pynchon's second novel.

Lotion.
A New York group whose liner notes were penned by the Man himself.

Maas.
A visit to San Narciso.

Nirvana.
Was the famous tune Smells Like Teen Spirit acutally inspired by a song from Gravity's Rainbow?

Nova Mob.
A "Rock Opera" filled with references to Gravity's Rainbow.

Okasek, Ric.
Ride The Rocket with the former frontman of The Cars.

Pere Ubu.
David Thomas' legendary, seminal band shows some Pynchon influences.

PopCanon.
These literate Indies hail from Flordia, and have a song about Wanda Tinasky which is highly recommended!

Poster Children.
This group from Champaign, Illinois, covers a lot of Pynchon ground!

Radiohead.
English art-rockers who incorporate many Pynchon motifs into their work.

Rapoon.
An offshoot of Zoviet France, Robin Storey's group named Rapoon released an album called The Kirghiz Light.

Sauter & Dietrich, Moore.
More liner notes written by Pynchon !!

Soft Machine.
Seminal "proggies," they recorded a full-scale work called Esther's Nose Job in 1969.

Time in Malta.
A California metal group with a name taken from V.

Ware, Tim.
Pynchon scholar, Web master, and MIDI Musician.

Yo La Tengo.
Making music indebted to The Crying of Lot 49.

Yoyodyne.
Related to New York's Lot 49, ths Florida group also takes their name from Pynchon's work.

Zevon, Warren.
He recently released an album containing work inspired by Pynchon.