Orthotonics "Grease & Flowers"

Orthotonics
Wake Up You Must Remember
LP
(Generic Records, 1984)

Man, I HATED the Orthos the first time I saw them. Of course, being on a bill with Minor Threat, Government Issue and the Velvet Monkeys left them odd man out, as the VMs at least rocked, even if not as aggressively as the hardcore bands on the bill. The Orthotonics, however, were this arty, dancey crap that I wanted to end . . . immediately!

Seeing as they were from Richmond, a scant hour's drive from where I went to college, I ended up seeing them a number of times. Eventually, they grew on me. A lot. Clotramazole was no help.

This song is from their vinyl debut album (it was preceded by a cassette album, Accessible as Gravity, and a 7" single of Doo Doo Cars), which they recorded as a quintet. They slimmed to a trio (keyboards/guitar, saxophone, percussion) a bit later and released one more album, Luminous Bipeds, before splitting. The last time I saw them, they were playing a lot of fantastic, new material. It's a pity those songs never became available to the record buying public (i.e., ME).

In my opinion, the Orthotonics and Honor Role were the two best bands ever out of Richmond, VA. Not to slight Axehandle, of course.