专辑简介

The Hand was one of the most ferocious, intrepid, and innovative underground New York rock bands in the nineties. No one embodied the do-it-yourself recording aesthetic quite like The Hand. The group was a car-crash conglomeration of guitar virtuosity, pounding drums, shrieking vocals, poetic intellect, relentless dissonance, extreme juvenile humor, and pure testosterone. The trio consisted of bassist Chris Rael (of Indo-pop band Church of Betty), guitarist Kenny Siegal and drummer Brian Geltner (of rock band Johnny Society), along with Ed Pastorini (101 Crustaceans) and Jan Kotik (Mommyheads). Rael, Siegal, and Geltner all wrote, in different combinations, and everyone played all instruments, again in different combinations. The group started out recording in Kenny’s parents’ basement in Long Island, and eventually colonized Brooklyn’s now thriving Dumbo area, building Dumbo’s first recording studio in a warehouse basement in 1996. The Hand experienced a semi-autistic explosion of prolificacy, recording five albums between 1995 and 1997. In fact, the sheer volume of songs couldn’t fit in one band, which led to the group splitting back into Church of Betty and Johnny Society. These studio rats spent more time playing mad scientist in murky sonic laboratories than performing on stage; only few had the electroshock-like pleasure of a Hand show. Fortunately, the fruits of their studio labors are preserved for all. This collection contains some of the best of it.

Musicians: Chris Rael, Kenny Siegal, Brian Geltner, Jan Kotik, Deep Singh, Claire de Brunner, Ed Pastorini. Produced by The Hand. Recorded by Kenny Siegal, Brian Geltner & Danny Kadar. Cover by Gideon Kendall.