Loftus

Loftus finds the members of two bands—Rex and Red Red Meat—collaborating with a dude from Tortoise. It is a wonderful record that tears various genres apart with glee. For the first time ever, this underknown classic of experimental 1990s indie-rock is being released on vinyl. “Red Red Meat had done a few tours with Rex and the Grifters; co-mingling during the shows led to the idea to record,” Massarella says. “We recorded this at Ben's truck stop—still the filthiest place I've ever been,” Rutili relates. “It was a real truck stop; people weighed trucks and cleaned the blood out of meat trucks right there. Ben's dad used to do a radio show in one of the office rooms.” The record was a real collaboration. “Bundy put all our names into a hat; he'd pick three names and we'd improvise,” Rutili says. “When he flicked the lights on and off it was time to stop. We built these pieces into songs.” It may be hard to wrap your head around now, but this gloriously weird thing was originally going to be issued by a major label. Massarella adds that “I don't know why we got signed, but we did. We made the Loftus record and the label immediately folded.” The jackets for this release are silkscreened, with a sandpaper jawbone affixed to the covers, replicating the orignal CD release.