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You might remember Martin Meyer from his label Lumpy Records and his band Lumpy And The Dumpers, two 2010s-era entities that inspired multiple generations of freaked-out punk kids to sing through voice modulation pedals and write songs that sound like Devo played inside of a melting cassette deck. But we aren’t here today to do a career retrospective, or talk about controversial genre terminologies, or swap Midwest basement show stories. We are here to talk about his current band, Soup Activists, and their excellent new release, Where the Rubbish Goes, an album full of charged guitar pop that tunefully obliterates more polite indie activities.
Clocking at 25 minutes, the record was made in an old Masonic lodge in Dayton, Kentucky, right across the river from Cincinnati. It’s a fitting setting for music that conjures, in its own way, many of the greats of Ohio underground pop. Recorded by John Hoffman and played entirely by Meyer, save a few guest appearances (see Good Flying Bird Kellen Baker’s scorching lead on the cover of Hiss Explosion’s “Amnesia”), Where the Rubbish Goes is a non-stop joyride. It’s filled with songs good enough to anchor their own seven-inch. We are talking A-sides here, people!
Highlights include “Johnny,” which was written after an EU tour in tribute to Meyer’s friend and bandmate of 18 years. “I was thinking about all the Johnny-themed rock n’ roll songs and decided surely my Johnny deserves one,” Meyer says. “Typical Flowers” jangles for a perfect minute and thirty-five; “The Wayback” is a marching, stomping tune that splits the difference between Flying Nun Records and The Dead Milkmen. “Chateau Kids” is music for jumping up and down on your bed and spilling candy everywhere.
Though Soup Activists explore new ideas, styles and whims, the snot and charm of Meyer’s previous projects have not been lost.
As his universe expands we’re giddy to see where we’ll end up next. It’s always inspiring to hear an underground music lifer finding a new pocket.
-John Chiaverina