Thraft King

Thraft King (TK) recorded 24 full-length lo-fi cassettes between 1990 and 1994, starting when the members (Mike V. and Mike W.) were 12-years-old. The lads were weaned heavily on Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Rush, and later the prog rock of Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson. The music on these early tapes was clumsy, sloppy, and mostly unlistenable, but occasionally very interesting. Most of it was improvisational; they were frequently trying to emulate their prog rock heroes without actually bothering to compose something before hitting the record button.

From the winter of '90 to the fall of '91, they recorded mostly at Mike W's parents' house, a period they refer to as the Mark I era (a la Deep Purple). They gathered almost every Saturday, armed with Doritos and Pepsi, and recorded whatever they felt like playing. Every few months they would compile the 'best' of the recordings onto a cassette and erase the unedited masters (d'oh!). Mike V. bought a drum kit in late '92, and they moved the sessions to his parents' basement (now we're in Mark II). None of these recordings are officially available, despite constant talk of a compilation of this era.

Following the sprawling masterpiece/catastrophe Spermatozoon (1994), they chose to temporarily cease recording. In '96, returning after a year at college, they bought a 4-track cassette recorder (Tascam), started a label (FSR), and began recording hours and hours of mostly improvised material over a three-year period (Mark III), with the help of a third member (Rob). They tried to assemble a new album as early as November '97, but new pieces would consistantly replace older ones on the album. By January '99, the album was completely different from the one they had in '97, but the title remained the same - Music for Two Fingers.

Six months later, they released Carros: Bonitos Buenos Baratos, a personal favorite of the group. While still limited to 4-track cassette, they managed to create a relentless, swirling, often beautiful mess of guitars, synths and drum machines.

In early '99, the three-piece version of TK agreed to (1) begin composing material to supplement the recorded improvisations, (2) start performing live, and (3) change their name to The Research Magnificent.

In late 2003, when it became clear that the Research Magnificent was on an indefinite hiatus, the two Mikes elected to revive the Thraft King name. A duo once again (Mark IV... too bad Tommy Bolin wasn't around anymore), they gathered in the same basement in which so many of their early cassettes were recorded, and quickly produced The Rockypee. The EP contained three mindless and mostly instrumental hard rock songs, leading to confusion among fans and critics. Or whatever.

The group is still working on new material, but very... very... slow... ly...

Oh, and none of the albums are currently available. Sorry. Maybe a comp will come out soon, who knows?

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Discography

MARK I (cassette releases, all out-of-print)
Godzilla (1990)
People I Hate (1990)
Rockets (1990)
The Evil Ways of Gumby (1990)
ZAR1 (1990)
Night Shift (1990)
Rock You (1991)
In Your Face (1991)
Green Goats from Hell [compilation] (1991)
2213 (1991)
Depressed (1991)
Time for Terrorizing (1991)
The Endless Road (1991)
...With Twinkies (1992)
Acid Fascism (1992)

MARK II (cassette releases, all out-of-print)
Thraft King (1992)
Thraft King II (1992)
Waves (1992)
Problems (1992)
Greatest Hits [compilation] (1993)
The Essence of Madness (1993)
Stomach Acid (1993)
Music to Abuse the Elderly By (1994)
Spermatozoon (1994)

MARK III (CD-R releases, all out-of-print)
Music For Two Fingers (1999)
Carros: Bonitos Buenos Baratos (1999)
The Rockypee (2004)