Altered Zones

Jamie Harley of Schmooze Blog says:
When Willie Loco Alexander recorded this song in 1980, he was already a veteran of the American underground music scene. He'd been involved in various acts since the early 60s: The Lost, Grass Menagerie, Bagatelle and also that one band called The Velvet Underground. It would be cruelly unfair though to sum him up as the guy who once stepped into Sterling Morrison's shoes, at a time when Moe Tucker was the only original member left. Everything he has realeased since proves that there's so much more to him than this.

"Gin" opens with a synthetic line that sounds like it could have used to score a romantic scene in an italian exploitation movie, but very soon the song turns itself into an eerie ballad for sleepwalkers, with waves crashing in the distance and a voice that sounds reassuring but doesn't leave much hope. It's dangerous, warns Willie, and he sounds like he really means it.

MP3: Willie Loco Alexander: "Gin" (1980)