Video: Quasar Wut-Wut – “Come Out of the Darkness”

Directed by Matt Schwarz. Cameras by Niko Sulek. Edited by Jordan Frank. Single out now.

It’s always a pleasure when the Quasars emerge from Matt’s basement with a new song, and this is a good one. Man, I have missed these guys!

“From deep in the heart of the pandemic comes a new single for your viewing pleasure. Witness a rare glimpse inside the mysterious and malodorous Coupon Studios – QWW’s legendary practice space and recording studio. It’s like it’s your own private show of just the fellas and Matt’s definitely-not-weird collection of old film projectors, all filmed live with multiple cameras and phones. The song recording is also live- what you see is what you hear (other than a double-tracked vocal but who’s counting?). Yes, those instruments are live, so before you start with the ‘BUT THAT KEYBOARD?!?’ – it’s not a keyboard, it’s Brent’s super-cool technique with his delay pedal(s) that sound all spacey. If you want more details just ask him and you two nerds can go stand in the corner and bore yourselves to death, the rest of us don’t want to hear about it.”

As of today it’s still only available on YouTube but hopefully these dingdongs will get their act together it put it up on Bandcamp and the streaming services before too long…

Update: It’s on bandcamp now!

Video: Quasar Wut-Wut- “The Tramps of Taro Sound” (quarantine version)

Original version on Taro Sound (Glorious Noise Records, 2004).

What are you supposed to do when you can’t hang out with your pals in real life anymore? Well, one thing you could do is take over your daughter’s bedroom and zoom your pals. Or take off your clothes and hide in some bushes. Whatever. The choices are endless, really, if you use your imagination.

I miss my friends in Chicago so much. This is the longest I’ve gone without at least visiting Chicago since I was a kid. Maybe ever. My folks had friends there who we would visit at least once a year. It’s where I learned to not take shit from bullies. (I’m looking at you, Randy.) I spent my twenties crashing on couches and inflatable mattresses in people’s studio apartments. Finally moved there right before my 30th birthday and spent my thirties there: Lincoln Square, Lakeview, Albany Park, back to Lincoln Square. Made so many great friends, including the Quasars. We had so much fun. Always a band playing a club somewhere. Big Horse, Gunther Murphy’s, Martyrs’, Beat Kitchen, Lily’s. Oh Lily’s, what a glorious shithole. That big shoe. Weird, hidden rooms upstairs where people could do bad things. Five-dollar Long Island iced teas. Bloody Mary’s made with human placenta. So many good times.

Now we’re all so damn old I can hardly believe it. But hey, at least these four guys still look good. And they’re still able to conjure up the mojo that inspired us to start a record label to release their album.

And maybe the lyrics are as applicable to today as they were back in the day.

They’re handing trophies out to all young things
Who can distract their country for the King,
And keep the vultures occupied…

Go out and earn some trophies, everybody!

Video: Quasar Wut-Wut – “Mandatory Days”

From Digesting Mirror, out sometime this year (hopefully).

We love Quasar Wut-Wut. A lot. So much that we dumped our early 2000’s fortune into launching a record label to put out their brilliant album, Taro Sound. And let me tell you, there was a time when websites like this made money! But a Zug is as good a nod from a blind horse and this was a better investment than most so we’re all good.

We love Quasar Wut-Wut so much that we wait and wait and wait and wait for their next call and when that phone finally rings it’s usually a prank call. But we giggle and preen and appreciate the attention.

“Mandatory Days” is a great example of why we put up with it all. It’s spooky and catchy. It’s strange and familiar. It’s dropsy and snide. Accompanied by a video that reminds us that the long slog of time degrades and morphs unrecognizable, it’s comforting to know the band we love is still out there. Somewhere. And we’ll be waiting.

Quasar Wut-Wut: web, bandcamp, fb, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

[Editor’s note: GLONO HQ received an advanced copy of Digesting Mirror on vinyl so we can assure everybody that it does indeed exist in the physical realm. We’re still waiting for an official announcement of a release date and show, but the band promises it’s coming. -ed.]

Video: Quasar Wut-Wut – “Wünderbra”

From Jalopy (self-released, 1998).

Ahead of the upcoming release of their new album, Digesting Mirror, Quasar Wut-Wut is “rolling out a few confections old and new.”

The band says, “This is a remastered HD version of our first music video off the 1998 stone-cold classic Jalopy. That album is so good you might want to skip over listening to it and just take our word for it. But the video is HOT. […] We think the video still holds up really well and it’s fun to compare to our new video for ‘Jezebel’s Arm’ so you can understand the devastating effects of aging on the human body and mind.”

Quasar frontman Matt Schwarz and bassist Jordan Frank made it while attending film school in Michigan twenty years ago with friends Russ Merkow, Winston Stromberg, and Craig Silverstein. “They blew off other classes to make this and nearly failed out, so we hope you’re happy.”

We are.

The band has promised us that Digesting Mirror will come out this summer. Let’s hold them to it!

Quasar Wut-Wut: web, bandcamp, fb, amazon, apple, spotify.