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Totenlieder

The Hochimen Independent release

This a quirky release, to be sure. BUDDY Texas Bass Tornado (and former Spot member) Reginald Rueffer, drummer Pete Young and guitarist Ed McMahon are The Ho Chi Men, an alternative rock KDGEready trio. Musically, the spectrum is hard progressive rock, dramatic and definitely not yer typical 3 chords banged out in the heat of the angry moment. The prose is what really grabs the listener, angry, dark, moody and sometimes downright psychotic.

Just read the titles of some of the tracks: "Little Dead Limb," "The Funeral Gig," "My Baby Died," "Death in Captivity," and "If I Die." Other titles may not be directly death-related, but the stories told and messages relayed in "My lame Ass," "God is a Flower," "Dream of a Dream," and "Gore Vidal Gomez" aren't happy bedtime stories by any means. The scariest cuts are the dirgey "60-40" and the story of "The Train." There are lots of mention of God and/or god on this disc, but more in the sense the faithless rather than the blindly faithful. The CD was recorded by Matthew Lewis Pence at Echolab in Denton, with Mike Daane lending a hand on the production.

You may not be able to see The Ho Chi Men live much, since this is a side project, but this disc will cause you to ponder in your depression and maybe make you think you're not the only suicidal one after all.

-COLLEEN BRADFORD
Buddy Magazine