Phantom Limbs

Phantom Limbs

Applied Ignorance (re-issue)

Alternative Tentacles

Oakland’s mysterious Phantom Limbs inflicted their psychotic art-goth-punk debut on the world back in 2001— and to celebrate their reunion Alternative Tentacles is proud to reissue Applied Ignorance with brand new art by singer Hopeless and the addition of two previously unreleased tracks recorded live on KALX Berkeley in 2001! Prodded by pitchforks to see them, Jello Biafra thought they were the strangest band he had ever seen a Gilman St. crowd go stark raving nuts for — a cross between Screamers and Gilbert and Sullivan gone terribly wrong. Eerie, grinding keyboards mixed with driving bass, thundering drums, wall-of-sound guitar and frantic, desperate vocals. This album is a swirling amalgamation of old school punk, deathrock, and no-wave mixed with the theater songs of Kurt Weill. Their live shows became stuff of legend with singer Hopeless invariably naked or covered in grease paint, duct tape, wrapping paper or substances of unknown origin. Crowd interaction was mandatory, with Hopeless sometimes going so far as to handcuff himself to unsuspecting fans.

Phantom Limbs

Accept The Juice / Whole Loto Love

Alternative Tentacles

When the Phantom Limbs disbanded in 2004, the Bay Area music scene lost a truly strange and marvelous spectacle. Often drawing comparisons to The Screamers or Christian Death as well as Gilbert and Sullivan and Kurt Weill, the Limbs carved out a curious place in punk with their carny organ-infused no wave deathrock.  Their sound stood out, sure, but their live spectacle was an integral piece of the Phantom Limbs experience. Singer Loto Ball (nee Ryan Hopeless) was something of a punk rock Artaud, encouraging involuntary audience participation by handcuffing himself to show-goers, hocking fake gold watches, or just covering himself in greasepaint that inevitably rubbed off on the crowd.   Accept the Juice / Whole Loto Love is two releases in one double-digipak. Accept the Juice collects the Phantom Limbs' odds and ends: tracks from out-of-print EPs (including the split with Fleshies), live tracks, and other rarities from between 1999 and 2002. Whole Loto Love includes one hour of live videos from shows in Oakland, Portland, Germany, and Poland, along with 40 minutes of interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and more.  "Awesome East Bay band ... new wave Rudimentary Peni ... the dance infection hit." --Maximum Rocknroll   "A new wave circus: a hurdy-gurdy with a really strange singer." --East Bay Express

Phantom Limbs

Displacement

Alternative Tentacles

***The anticipated sophomore album from Bay Area gloom dealers the PHANTOM LIMBS. An unsettling blend of carny-inspired death rock and Weill-style punk, delivered with cascading keyboards, unnerving guitars, off-kilter rhythms, and grotesque lyricism.