Strapping Fieldhands
Pennsylvania's Strapping Fieldhands,
fronted by Bob Malloy,
applied the Holy Modal Rounders aesthetics (atonal guitars and grotesque vocals) to Appalachian folk music on
Discus (Omphalos, 1994).
The first EP, The Demiurge (Silbreeze, 1992),
was a serious take on Appalachian folk music
but the following singles,
Future Pastoral, Stacey Donnelley and Sun Sun,
already showed a perverted knack for demented romps.
The early singles will be collected on
Gobs On The Midway (Silbreeze, 1996).
Following
the EP
Future Pastoral (1993),
atonal guitars and grotesque vocals rule over
Discus (Omphalos, 1994), and
goofy, retarded Holy Modal Rounders numbers such as
Boo Hoo Hoo and Luminous Bodies
highlight the band's folly.
The EP
In The Pineys (1994)
adds
He's Right to their major canon.
Unfortunately, Wattle & Daub (Shangri-La, 1996) denotes a sudden
dearth of inspirazione.
After a five-year hiatus,
Third Kingdom (Omphalos Records, 2002) was a more convincing summary of their acid-rock.
They later released
Alluvium Trinkets (Omphalos Records, 2018)
and
Across The Susquehanna (2021).
