Kangaroo? is the second collaborative studio album by American experimental rock band the Red Crayola and British conceptual art group Art & Language. It was released in 1981 by Rough Trade Records. The album continues the avant-garde and art-music fusion of their 1978 debut collaboration Corrected Slogans, featuring abstract lyrics, noise elements, and interdisciplinary influences blending rock improvisation with conceptual art practices.
Background
Origins of the collaboration
The collaboration between experimental rock musician Mayo Thompson of the Red Crayola and the conceptual art collective Art & Language began in the early 1970s, following Art & Language's relocation from London to New York City.[1] This move positioned the group amid New York's vibrant scene of conceptual and performance artists, enabling Thompson—who had recently arrived in the city after the Red Crayola's initial disbandment—to forge ties with them.[2]Thompson's interest in integrating visual art concepts into music aligned with Art & Language's textual and index-based practices, leading to an initial exchange where the collective supplied lyrical content drawn from their earlier works, including materials from Index 01, displayed at Documenta 5 in Kassel in 1972.[3] These texts, often abstract and interrogative, were adapted into songs that blurred boundaries between rock improvisation and artistic discourse, reflecting a shared commitment to anti-establishment experimentation.The partnership formalized with the 1976 release of Corrected Slogans on Transparent Records, an album that fused Thompson's guitar-driven compositions with Art & Language members' contributions on bass, drums, and vocals, establishing a model for their subsequent joint efforts.[4] This interdisciplinary approach persisted through the 1970s, culminating in renewed activity for Kangaroo? in 1981, amid Thompson's reactivation of the Red Crayola moniker.[5]
Conceptual and artistic influences
The album Kangaroo? drew conceptual influences from Art & Language's foundational emphasis on linguistic analysis and critique of ideological structures, extending their earlier collaborative work on Corrected Slogans (1976), which deconstructed Maoist rhetoric through musical adaptation.[6] This approach informed Kangaroo?'s interrogation of Soviet communist doctrines, blending spoken-word elements with instrumentation to question historical narratives and authoritarian legacies rather than endorsing them.[7] Art & Language's roots in 1960s conceptual art—prioritizing ideas, documentation, and institutional critique over traditional aesthetics—manifested in the album's abstract, non-narrative structure, where tracks like "Kangaroo?" itself posed rhetorical queries akin to philosophical probes into power dynamics.[8]Artistically, the project reflected Red Crayola's longstanding experimental ethos, pioneered in their 1967 debut The Parable of Arable Land, which incorporated feedback, dissonance, and improvisational noise as anti-commercial gestures influenced by psychedelic rock's fringes and early avant-garde composers like John Cage.[9] Mayo Thompson's integration of post-punk contributors, including Gina Birch of the Raincoats and Lora Logic of Essential Logic, introduced punk-derived rawness and feminist undertones, tempering Red Crayola's chaos with rhythmic clarity while echoing the group's prior deconstructions of rock conventions.[7] The result emphasized hybridity, merging visual art's conceptual rigor with music's sonic experimentation to challenge listener expectations, as seen in layered vocal recitations over sparse guitar and percussion that evoked both Fluxus-style happenings and Situationist détournement.[10]
Production
Technical and artistic decisions
The production of Kangaroo? utilized Studio 80 in London for principal recording sessions, a facility known for hosting diverse experimental and post-punk projects during the era.[11] Mixing occurred at Matrix Studios, also in London, under the supervision of producers Mayo Thompson, Adam Kidron, Epic Soundtracks, and Lora Logic, with Tim Thompson assisting on mixes.[11] These choices emphasized a hands-on, collaborative technical process suited to the album's experimental ethos, avoiding overly polished studio techniques in favor of capturing live improvisational energy from the assembled musicians.Artistically, the decision to recruit performers from the UK punk and post-punk milieu— including Gina Birch of The Raincoats on bass and vocals, Lora Logic (ex-X-Ray Spex) on saxophone, Epic Soundtracks (ex-Swell Maps) on drums, Ben Annesley on guitar, and Allen Ravenstine on synthesizer—infused the recordings with a raw, interdisciplinary edge that bridged conceptual art and rock improvisation.[11] This lineup reflected Thompson's and Art & Language's intent to subvert conventional song forms, prioritizing fragmented structures and spoken-word elements over melodic accessibility, as evidenced by the tracklist's blend of indexed texts and sonic experiments. Production coordination by Rough Trade's Geoff Travis further ensured alignment with the label's roster of avant-garde acts, such as The Raincoats, facilitating a sound that prioritized conceptual layering over commercial polish.[11]Technical mastering varied by side: Side A was cut at PRS Ltd., while Side B occurred at Utopia Studios, contributing to subtle differences in vinyl warmth and dynamics that enhanced the album's lo-fi, artifact-laden aesthetic upon its March 1981 release in stereo LP format.[11] These decisions underscored a commitment to analog fidelity that preserved the improvisatory accidents and tape hiss integral to the collaboration's exploration of noise as artistic medium.
Content and themes
Musical style and experimentation
Kangaroo? exemplifies the Red Crayola's longstanding commitment to experimental rock, integrating elements of avant-jazz, post-punk, and art rock into a framework characterized by angular, disjointed structures and a "quirky and art-damaged" sonic palette.[12] The album's sound achieves a deliberate sense of dislocation, with contributions from musicians associated with groups like the Raincoats, Essential Logic, Swell Maps, and Pere Ubu enhancing its avant-garde edge through unconventional instrumentation, including saxophone work by Lora Logic and noise elements from Pere Ubu's Allen Ravenstine.[12][9] This approach marks a shift from the band's earlier chaotic psychedelia, toning down raw disorder in favor of more structured yet still provocative compositions that prioritize conceptual layering over conventional melody.[7]Experimentation in Kangaroo? manifests through its fusion of musical forms with ideological content, resembling avant-garde theater music more than traditional rock, evoking a Brechtian detachment infused with the eccentricity of Vivian Stanshall.[7] Tracks like the instrumental "1917" employ gentle, poignant arrangements to underscore historical themes, while broader sonic explorations incorporate alienated slogans and references to figures such as Jackson Pollock, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky, blending auditory disruption with political critique.[7][12] The collaboration with Art & Language amplifies this by embedding sociomusicological elements, where melodic accessibility serves experimental ends, retaining the Red Crayola's tradition of defying genre norms through interdisciplinary provocation.[9]Overall, the album's innovations lie in its restrained yet purposeful eccentricity, using noise, saxophone interjections, and fragmented rhythms to interrogate Soviet communist history without resorting to overt agitprop, distinguishing it as a pivotal work in the band's evolution toward intellectually rigorous sound art.[7][9]
Lyrics and conceptual elements
The title track "Kangaroo?" features lyrics narrating the discovery of the kangaroo by sailors on Captain Cook's voyage, with verses recounting: "On their voyage of discovery / Of privation and cartography / The sailors said to Captain Cook / 'Come over here and have a look / We've found a most remarkable / Beast upon the land' / And Captain Cook replied 'I think / It is a kangaroo'".[13] This sets a tone of historical encounter and naming, aligning with the album's broader conceptual framework of examining historical and political figures through an artistic lens, influenced by Art & Language's conceptual approach.The album's lyrics and spoken elements often incorporate references to Marxist theory, Soviet leaders like Lenin and Trotsky, and abstract concepts, using fragmented and provocative phrasing to evoke ideological critique rather than linear storytelling. Tracks such as "The Mistakes of Trotsky" and "Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock" blend textual disruption with musical experimentation, prioritizing intellectual provocation over emotional narrative, in line with the collaboration's aim to merge sociopolitical commentary with avant-garde form.[9][7]
Track listing
"Kangaroo?" features 15 tracks, blending experimental art rock with conceptual elements influenced by Mayo Thompson's collaboration with Art & Language.[14]
No.
Title
Length
1
Kangaroo?
1:35
2
Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock, Part I
2:58
3
Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock, Part II
4:49
4
Marches Nos. 23, 24, 25
2:27
5
Born to Win (Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments)
1:22
6
Keep All Your Friends
2:18
7
The Milkmaid
1:59
8
The Principles of Party Organisation
2:39
9
Prisoner's Model
1:58
10
The Mistakes of Trotsky
3:15
11
The Tractor Driver
2:40
12
1917
1:18
13
Plekhanov
3:15
14
An Old Man's Dream
2:32
15
If She Loves You
4:30
The total runtime is approximately 39 minutes.[12][15]
Release and commercial aspects
Initial release details
Kangaroo? was initially released in 1981 by the independent label Rough Trade Records, primarily in vinyl LP format as a collaborative effort between the experimental rock band the Red Crayola and the conceptual art collective Art & Language.[11] The original pressing featured a catalog number of 6435 098 and was distributed through Rough Trade's UK-based operations, reflecting the label's focus on avant-garde and post-punk releases during that era.[16] No specific release date beyond the year is documented in primary catalog records, though it followed the duo's prior collaboration Corrected Slogans from 1976. Subsequent editions, such as CD reissues in the 1990s, built on this initial vinyl output but did not alter the core release parameters.[17]
Promotion and distribution
Rough Trade Records, an independent London-based label pivotal in the post-punk era, handled the initial distribution of Kangaroo? through its cooperative network of indie retailers and wholesalers across the UK and Europe.[18] The album saw vinyl LP releases in multiple territories, including the UK (catalog ROUGH 19), Germany (6435 098), France (200 268), Italy, and the US (ROUGH US 12), reflecting Rough Trade's emphasis on international export via partnerships with local distributors.[18] A cassette edition (COPY 005) was also distributed in the UK, targeting the growing home-taping market among alternative audiences.[18]Promotion was characteristically understated for Rough Trade's experimental output, relying on word-of-mouth within avant-garde and art-rock circles rather than mainstream advertising campaigns.[12] The label's in-house shop and mail-order system, combined with coverage in UK music weeklies like NME and Sounds, served as primary channels, though no large-scale tours or singles were issued to drive sales.[19] Promotional efforts extended modestly overseas, with evidence of Japan-specific promo LPs produced for radio and press outreach.In 1995, Drag City reissued the album on CD (DC80), broadening US distribution through the Chicago indie label's network and introducing digital formats like FLAC for later online availability, which facilitated renewed accessibility without original-era marketing.[14][8]
Commercial performance
As an experimental art-rock album, Kangaroo? achieved limited commercial success, with distribution confined to independent channels and niche audiences, and no reported mainstream chart placements or sales figures.
Reception and analysis
Contemporary critical reception
Upon its 1981 release on Rough Trade Records, Kangaroo? garnered praise from select alternative and underground music critics for its conceptual depth and melodic accessibility relative to prior experimental works by The Red Crayola. Robert Christgau, in his Village Voice Consumer Guide, graded the album A- and lauded it as "a great concept album elucidating Marxist aesthetics" executed effectively "with tunes," highlighting its fusion of ideological content with structured songcraft. The review emphasized the record's radio-unfriendly yet intellectually rigorous approach, reflecting its niche appeal amid broader punk and post-punk scenes.Trouser Press described the collaboration as a "challenging work" that "tones down the chaos" of earlier efforts, pivoting toward a "musical discussion of Soviet Communist ideals and history" through reunited efforts of The Red Crayola and Art & Language.[7] This assessment underscored the album's shift to more focused thematic exploration, including tracks interrogating revolutionary history and aesthetics, though its esoteric lyrics and avant-garde leanings limited mainstream uptake.Overall, contemporary coverage was sparse, confined to specialist outlets, with reception affirming the project's artistic ambition but noting its demanding nature for casual listeners; sales figures remained modest, aligning with Rough Trade's independent ethos and the era's fragmented alternative market.[18]
Retrospective views and debates
Retrospective reviews have highlighted Kangaroo? as one of the Red Crayola's more enduring works, with Dusted magazine noting it "remains one of the Krayola's most enduring and satisfying" albums.[20] Coverage remains limited, reflecting the album's niche status, though it is regarded for advancing the band's conceptual experimentalism.
Personnel and contributions
Core musicians and artists
The album Kangaroo? centers on Mayo Thompson, the founder and primary creative force of the experimental rock band The Red Crayola (also known as Red Krayola), who handled instruments, production, and co-writing alongside Art & Language.[11] Thompson, active since the band's 1966 formation in Houston, Texas, brought his avant-garde approach, emphasizing improvisation and conceptual elements drawn from his visual arts background. Art & Language, a British conceptual art collective founded in 1968 by figures including Michael Baldwin and Mel Ramsden, contributed to songwriting and production, extending their interdisciplinary practice into sonic experimentation without traditional instrumental roles.[11]Supporting musicians drawn from the early 1980s UK post-punk and experimental scenes included Gina Birch on instruments; Birch co-founded The Raincoats in 1977, known for feminist-inflected art-punk with lo-fi aesthetics.[11] Lora Logic provided instruments and production; a saxophonist and vocalist, she led the punk-no wave band Essential Logic from 1978, blending free jazz influences with abrasive energy post her Slits tenure.[11] Epic Soundtracks (real name Richard Reginald Heenan Falls) contributed instruments and production; drummer and vocalist for Swell Maps (1972–1980), he embodied DIY punk ethos through raw, eclectic performances.[11]Additional performers were Allen Ravenstine on instruments, a synthesist from American art-rock band Pere Ubu since 1975, renowned for EML synthesizer textures evoking industrial unease; and Ben Annesley on instruments, a lesser-documented figure likely from London's underground circuit.[11] This lineup reflected Thompson's network of collaborators, prioritizing experimental synergy over fixed band structure, with production also credited to Adam Kidron.[11]
Production credits
Kangaroo? was produced by Mayo Thompson, Adam Kidron, Lora Logic, and Epic Soundtracks, with production coordinated by Geoff Travis.[18] Assistant mix engineer Tim Thompson handled engineering duties, with recording at Studio 80 in London and mixing at Matrix Studios.[18]These credits reflect a collaborative process emphasizing experimental arrangements, drawing from post-punk and avant-garde influences in the early 1980s UK scene.[18]
Legacy and impact
Reissues and availability
The album Kangaroo saw a compact disc reissue in 2007 by the UK-based label Fallout, cataloged as FOCD2027, marking the primary post-original format release beyond the 1968 MGM variants.[21] This edition reproduced the full tracklist in stereo, targeting collectors of psychedelic and folk rock material.[22]Digitally remastered versions became accessible on streaming services thereafter, including Apple Music (released circa 2022) and Spotify, enabling broader availability without physical media.[23][24] These platforms offer the 12-track album in high-quality audio, though specifics on mastering dates vary by service.Original 1968 vinyl LPs (MGM SE-4586, stereo) and related formats like cassettes and 8-tracks persist in secondary markets, with copies traded via Discogs (over 500 reported holdings for key pressings) and eBay, often commanding collector premiums due to the band's obscurity and the album's rarity.[22][25] No vinyl reissues or further CD editions have been documented as of the latest catalog data.[22]