From the Western Isabella Ultrasound Examiner, September 16, 1992

RECORDS by ANAHEIM JOE DIVIZIO

*** exceptional ** worthwhile * mediocre ø waste of time ________________

Steve Knowlton Jumps on the Country Bandwagon **

  Steve Knowlton has resurfaced with a new album and a backing band. Steve Knowlton Jumps on the Country Bandwagon is an engaging Knowltonian miscellany of cover versions, retreads, and a few originals. "Country" is perhaps a misnomer; Knowlton covers not only Billy Ray Cyrus and Hank Williams, but Queen, the Beach Boys and John Cougar Mellencamp.
  But he has room to get away with it. There are 44 tracks on this album, making it an exceptional buy (especially at the traditionally low Crabapple prices); and the running time is longer than that of the Beatles' "White Album."
  As one would expect from Crabapple's known parsimony with the recording budget, no one in the backing band had achieved any previous distinction, and probably none of them will be heard from again after Knowlton drops them. Roy Biv, the bassist, is probably the best of the bunch, turning in solid performances. Bill Bohrdt plays guitar without noticable personality, and drummer Justin Case occasionally succumbs to imprecision.
  The best of the songs on this album is "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." It captures an emotional poignancy that is just exactly right for the lyrics, and is much better, much more appropriate, one might say, than the original version, wihich is entirely too cheery. Best of the Knowlton-authored cuts is "Maggie Mae."
  Western Isabella native and Pseudonyms member Ian Kabell has a few credits on the album, but "Mama, I'm Losin' My Mind" and "Miles Away" were both just covered from Delusions of Adequacy. "Someday," the lone Kabell-co-authored song he hadn't heard before, is nothing special and probably started life as an outtake from the Delusions sessions.
  Overall, Country Bandwagon is greater than the sum of its parts. By turns silly, pathos-ridden, and eloquent, it flows along pleasurably throughout most of its length. Unfortunately, the very end of side one and the first few songs on side two drag a bit as Knowlton fails to resist the temptation many liberals seem to suffer from, and sings about politics.

From the Western Isabella Ultrasound Examiner, April 30, 1994

RECORDS by DUCK MacDONOUGH

*** Buy this album ** Buy if you like the genre * Buy if you like the artist ø Don't bother ______________

Steve Knowlton Naturally Curly * Best songs: "Psalm 136" "Everett Dirksen Parkway" "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

  Steve Knowlton is unusual for an artist that has not yet attained commercial success, in that he is completely unafraid of writing trivial songs. While from a philosophical point of view this attitude might merit praise, it does mean that Knowlton's coterie of fans has to sit through the occasional album-length slab of irrelevancies. Such is Naturally Curly. Sixteen songs about food, hair, politics, inside jokes, and so forth are sandwiched between two relatively solid songs ("Psalm 136," where western Isabellan Ian Kabell provides backing vocals, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit.")
  By far the most impressive cut on the album is "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Knowlton, ably backed by talented keyboardist Jason Justian, recasts the Nirvana standard into an arrangement that includes (among other things) ukulele, kazoo and flutophone parts. The really incredible thing is that it actually sounds better than the original. It's strong and it's emotionally satisfying.
  "Everett Dirksen Parkway" (which has nothing to do with Everett Dirksen (or any politics) or parkways), is a quirky gem that has to be heard to be explicable, but it is well worth hearing. "Brandon's Bourgeois Bistro," co-written by Lisa D. Morgan and Christopher Raymond Vasell, is another enjoyable ditty. The wordplay, and even the political references, are adroit and contribute to the song.
  Unfortunately, this album is reminiscent of another poem about hair in that "when it is good, it is very good; but when it is bad it is horrid." One can get past the inept political commentary ("Hillary is a good friend/She uses lots of spice") and, with difficulty, the silliest excrescences of the lyrics ("I've got a happy horse to prance/I prance because I'm happy"), but how is one to get past "Domino's Diphthongs"? It has a vocal track, but not consonants. It lacks a melody. It is much, much worse than any track Knowlton has ever released on an album not entitled Paralipomenon.
  Nearly is disconcerting is Knowlton's version of the Bangles' "Eternal Flame." As Knowlton tries to sing a part pitched too high for him and Jennifer Knurr tries to sing a part pitched too high for her, the song degenerates into a shrill and structureless morass.
  Also worthy of adverse note is the nine-minute segment at the end of fragments read from The Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Time (Guterman and O'Donnell: Carol Publishing Corp.) Knowlton says it's not part of the album and may be fast-forwarded over. We recommend recording over it.
  Overall, this album is tolerable and even enjoyable. In a way, it's like eating cotton candy — it's fun to listen to, but it will never satisfy a hunger for something substantial.

From The Southern Cross: The Free Commonwealth's Foremost Magazine, December 8, 1997

CULTURE CORNER!
ALBUM REVIEW: Tocsin/Toxin by the Pseudonyms (Crabapple No. 27)
By Anthony Lawless

  The Pseudonyms are a duo composed of Penguinea's own Ian Kabell (vocals, percussion, etc.) and Steve Knowlton (vocals, multi-instruments). Tocsin and Toxin are two very similar albums, released on opposite sides of the same tape, with about half the songs in common. I confess myself as something of a loss to understand the rationale behind this, except that the production values on Tocsin seem to be slightly higher (thus, the slightly more erudite name? Who can tell?)
  The Pseudonyms sing about such exciting topics as body piercing, street crimes, spontaneous human combustion, venereal disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and capitals of obscure African countries. Now, I don't know if Ian or Steve have ever heard of They Might Be Giants, but I'd find it incredibly strange if they haven't – if they'll forgive the appelation, the Pseudonyms appear to be the logical successors to TMBG in the field of "nerd rock", down to Knowlton's use of accordion on a few tracks.
  The lyrical quality of the songs varies wildly, and the Pseudonyms helpfully provide a nice pink lyric sheet so you can see exactly how much. On the high end, we have the high surrealism of "Brain Pierced", the witty circumlocutions of "Have Mercy" ("I'm not made of manganese!" screams Kabell – the best line of the whole album), the dopey humour of "Mad Cow Blues", the vicious social commentary of "Not Built for Speed", the screaming neo-punk of "Waiting to Die". On the lower end, the Pseudonyms veer into the adolescent with downright silly tracks such as "If You're Going to Puke, Don't Puke in the Back Seat", "Powdered Sugar" and "Ouagadougou", the last of which sounds like it was an out-take from the last Weird Al Yankovic album. And would any other band have dared to cover a song by Beavis and Butthead? We can hope not. Another general problem with the lyrics is that sometimes there are just too many of them, so that their effect is lost as the vocalists try desperately to fit them all in before they have to draw breath again. Perhaps some of the more egregious polysyllabics should have been cut, or the tracks should just have been taken slower.
  Musically, I found the album very difficult to get into. Neither Kabell nor Knowlton would, I assume, describe themselves as "musicians"; this generally doesn't matter when they are laying down competent rhythm tracks on folky numbers such as "Grey" or "If I Should Pass This Way Again", but the "rockier" songs tend to fall flat – for example, the Tocsin verson of "Easy Storage and Easy Clean" is just about ruined by the drum beat veering wildly all over the place. The quasi-tonal vocals have their own special charm, much like those of Bob Dylan or Roger Waters, but then those were usually backed by an astounding band. Hanging on their own at the front of the mix, they manage to be pretty alienating. Of course, one would not wish to suggest that Ian and Steve aren't competent to sing their own songs... but, at many stages while listening to Tocsin/Toxin, I found myself wishing for a strong, tight band backing them, that could bring out the drive and groove that I feel lurking beneath the surface in many of the best tracks.
  In summary, then, the very least you can say about the Pseudonyms is that they're in interesting listen. A strong backing lineup of musicians and a producer's editing hand on musical quality and lyrical quantity would probably make them a real force to be reckoned with. But don't take my word for it. Every Penguinean should hear this album at least once, to show exactly how creative we can be even outside the political sphere. Recommended tracks: "Have Mercy", "Not Built for Speed", "Waiting to Die." It's available from Crabapple Tapes Co., 995 Falkirk Rd., Alma, Michigan 48801, USA.

Contact: Steve Knowlton