Following in the footsteps of Thrash & Burn,
Early Live Recordings: Gorilla/Appleasians offers another in-depth collection of
Ariel Pink's musical beginnings. Remastered from some of the same CD-Rs and eight-track cassettes that spawned Thrash & Burn, this set features material from the late '90s and early 2000s, when
Pink was recording under the aliases
Gorilla and
Appleasians. As with his other recordings from that time, the set showcases
Pink's growing flair for noisy experiments as well as hooky pop on tracks like the delicate cover of
the Shaggs' "My Cutie" -- which gives the original a run for its money when it comes to shambling innocence -- and "Tractor Man"'s more straightforward indie rock chug. Coupled with Thrash & Burn,
Early Live Recordings delivers an entertainingly fleshed-out portrait of
Pink's pre-
Haunted Graffiti years. ~ Heather Phares