The first release by the Los Angeles noise rock collective
Crawlspace to make it onto CD, 1992's
Sphereality is the result of two days in the studio in May 1991. Recorded live with no overdubs (except for
Eddie Flowers' vocals on the opening track, "Go Boy's Eyes Begin Their Plunder"), these improvisatory pieces move well away from the band members' punk roots into a brand of art noise very similar to Amon Duul I's epic freakouts. The lengthy pieces are often a little too formless to be as powerful as they might otherwise be, but all four pieces have passages of strange beauty and unearthly racket (occasionally at the same time). The two middle tracks, "You Bleed Love" and "Sphereality," are right on the verge of being pop songs at times, but the 32-minute multi-part closer is a total prog punk meltdown.