Spatula
Radio Helmet 7''
Now Sound
1994
Rating: 7.5 rainy streets out of 10
Chuck Johnson may be known for beautiful solo guitar playing these days, but in college he was the main man in Spatula. They were down and played with all of the bigs from the nineties Chapel Hill music scene, but they were always a little outside, a little different from what those bands were playing. It was indie rock, but there were always eastern flavors thrown in, tinges of math rock, world music, and of course great guitar playing. Anyways, they were great, this record is great, tony the tiger is great. Three songs total here, all of them gems, and none seemingly on any of their records, making this a must have for a fan like myself.
Evil Wiener / Spatula
Split 7''
Stay Free
1993
Rating: 7 double downs out of 10
Having recently seen Chuck Johnson live (former frontman of Spatula), that band has recently been on my mind; but I doubt I've thought about Evil Wiener in fifteen years. They hold the a-side and put forth a decent but fairly typical early nineties Chapel Hill indie rock song called "The Truth About Mary Poppins." The better half is Spatula - this was when they were in their Pavement-inspired indie folk stage, and they deliver two catchy tracks "Break" and "Your Heart's Cold." Later on they would get weirder and more ambient and influenced by world music and now Chuck is playing this delicate instrumental guitar folk, but this early version of Spatula was always my favorite.
