Julian Gallo

The following is all of the press we got over the years (minus interviews and mentions from compilation releases). I even included some of the bad reviews. I did this to illustrate how the same piece of music could affect people in different ways and also to show that I am not at all perturbed by a bad review, but rather amused by it. After reading some of these reviews again after so many years, I am very pleased by what we had accomplished and am at the same time appreciative of those who really dug what we did. What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 1991 First heard from last year on Galt Record's excellent "Hear No Evil" compilation, this Queens, NY based trio squeeze out sparkling psycho-pop on this, their debut LP. Simultaneously sunny and cynical, TEB deliver their goods wrapped in punk angst and tied with groovy pop ribbons. Hats off to chief songwriter and guitarist Julian Gallo who has penned a peck of witty, hooky tunes (Fave: "Life is Elsewhere") and bandmates Charles Caracciolo (drums) and Carol Rowan (bass) who, flailing with mad abandon, keeps Gallo's pop parked in the garage. Jim Santo Alternative Press May 1992 What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 1991 Intriguing 7-song effort from a Flushing, New York trio with the cutest female bass player I've seen since Naomi Young from Galaxie 500 was caught dancing in one of those "sophisticated" men's clubs in New Haven, CT (or was that the alcohol Neri gave me? Whatever.) Imagine The Vaselines crossed with Dinosaur Jr with a bigger eye turned toward the record labels. Charis Missing June 1992 What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 1991 The first release from this trio is a 7-song EP. Pop music with a hard edged tinge. You can hear the punk and psychedelic backgrounds but you could also easily imagine hearing this on an AM radio. Jersey Beat # 46 Summer 1992 What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 1991 Third Eye Butterfly is a happy mix of the rough white noise guitars, double-time drum rolls and smooth, minor key vocals, perfectly harmonized. Their 7-song EP boils over with hyperactive tracks like the punk-tinged "Where Are We?" and "Lou Reed". Almost a ballad, "Play With The Rainmaker" is the only real departure from their usual uptempo songs, but lyrical and haunting. Each song is expertly catchy and like so many pieces of ecstatic shrapnel will stick in your mind happily ever after. Sound Views # 20 November 1992 What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 1991 More guitar pop, this time from a trio from NY called Third Eye Butterfly. Tough, jangly fuzzy guitars and loads of harmony vocals combine at 70s punk speed to make for a really cool sound. Tons of catchy hooks abound on these 7 songs that'll leave your mouth watering for more. After all, any band that has a song called "Lou Reed" has got to be cool. What Wave? # 21 1992 What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 1991 This group knows about hooks - those moments when melody, lyric, chorus framework, vocal presence, song title, and meaning are one. Their Squeeze-influenced lead and harmony vocal arrangements are fresh - I wonder if producer Dave Weiner had something to do with that and/or the mastery of pop-song structure displayed here (to his credit) - and just this side of goody-goody. Sometimes the way Charles or Julian (whoever sings lead) rounds off a lyric invokes Paul McCartney himself ("Teach The World", "Play With The Rainmaker"). They update the New Seekers on "Teach the World" (as in..."to sing in perfect harmony") and should probably be invited to sinf the next Coca-Cola jingle (I actually mean that as a compliment). And the major modulation to the mediant in "Where Are We?" is suitably disorienting and exciting. So what, you ask? I dare each one of you white noise bands to come up with one hook as strong as any of these on your next 4 track demo. This is pop for the best of reasons. And each hook sticks. Jason Krasnow Cake volume 11, Issue # 2 1992 What The Thunder Said Psycho-Pop/Galt Records 191 Driving power pop aided by rich melodies, charged with a brutal blast of pure punk is what Third Eye Butterfly has to offer, and their 7 song EP is a real joy. In fact, they may just be the missing link between Teenage Fan Club and Nirvana! Punk aspirations most notably rear their head on "Everything I'm Living For", "Lou Reed", "Where Are We?" and "Life is Elsewhere", a dizzy rocker resembling a wild mixture of the Clash and the Who. On a poppier level, "Teach the World" and the jangly guitar of "Clouded Eyes". The lone slow number on "What The Thunder Said" is the haunting, harmony laden "Play With The Rainmaker" which radiates a strong baroque feel. This is a true masterpiece of music you don't want to pass up! Pop Sunday Newsletter 1992 Live Review Third Eye Butterfly offer a 60s influenced sound with a 90s relevance and they did it impressively at Nobody's December 5th. Drummer Charles Caracciolo is a superb double talent on drums and back up vocals. Carol Rowan's bass playing was both accurate and precise while Julian Gallo's guitar and vocals came with an image that remined us of Kurt from Nirvana. The Angle Vol. 4, # 1 February 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records, 1993 As expected, the new Third Eye Butterfly single is absolutely fabulous! Propelled by the clammor of thunderous drums that male you automatically think of Keith Moon, crossed with the chunky guitar riffing straight from the sonic landscape of Pete Townsend, "Skin" obviously pays homage to vintage Who. On the other hand, "Everything Falls Apart" is much more pop oriented, highlighted by compelling hooks and a bright and bouncy air. As an added bonus, this disc comes packaged in a real cute picture sleeve, but I'm not going to tell you what it looks like. Check it out for yourself! Pop Sunday Newsletter September 19th 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 It's very appropriate that this record is on Psycho-Pop Records because each of the sides reflects a different half of the label's name. Side A is pop similar to slightly less noisy Husker Du (oddly enough they also share a title of a Husker song). It's an upbeat ditty with some well placed backing vocals. "Skin" is a psycho-dirgy rocker that sounds nothing like the A-side. It's like a different band. Third Eye Butterfly do both songs pretty well but it's really tough to imagine the two next to each other in one of the band's sets. They get an A for versatility but a B for consistency. This could confuse people The Splatter Effect # 5 1993 'Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 Third Eye Butterfly's new 7-inch sounds like a split-release between two drastically different bands! "Everything Falls Apart" is a hummable Cure-esque pop song with a real late 60s vibe, not unlike their track on the Sound Views comp. The B-side, "Skin" i a hard, fuzzed out pop stomper a la Nirvana. I liked both tracks although a little continuity would be nice. Sound Views # 26 December 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 The A-side is good guitar based pop chock full of harmonies---I don't know id this is Third Eye Butterfly's sound or not but it's done really well. The B-side, "Skin" is an okay mid-tempo number with no harmonies tht makes the A-side even better. On red vynyl with a full color sleeve. Under The Volcano # 15 1993 "Everything Falls Apart" / "Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 The A-side isn't the Husker Du song (unfortunately). Harder college-pop stuff ruined by "we are the world" type lyrics on side two and music that wants the best of both worlds: "rocking out" (ugh), indie sound, bouncy melodies and so on but just ends up sounding as annonymous as the other stuff I usually get in my P.O. Box. Chairs Missing October 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 "Everything Falls Apart is a stab at fuzzed out power-pop. The melody is great but the lyrics are a bit mundane. The weakest link here, however, is the vocals which unfortunately can't cut through the clutter and become distinctive. "Skin" is a driving rocker powered by full force guitars and upbeat skin pounding; hooky and infectous. The Village Noize #15 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" / "What The Thunder Said" EP (1991) Psycho-Pop Records 1993 "Everything Falls Apart is a crashing piece of power-pop masquerading as garage-grunge. The flip is garage-grunge without apology. The EP is more of the same with air-tight melodies floating to the top of their musical swamp. "Everything I'm Living For" is brilliant pop---like the Plimsouls mudwrestling with Nirvana. "Teach The World" could be a commercial jingle (wasn't it?). All the rest is equally good stuff rife with folk-rock moves and uncompromising garage/punk inflections. The metamorphosed Third Eye Butterfly has clearly left grunge's cacoon behind, having taken flight with colorful pop wings. Let your ears be the net. Yellow Pills 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 No doubt about it, "Everything..." is an absolute stone classic that sounds like it could be a missing track from "Singles Going Steady". It's got everything---chiming guitars, a pounding beat, pissed off, unlucky in love lyrics and a chorus that just won't quit. The flip is decent but the A-side makes this one of my top 45s of the year. Foster Child 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 Buzzcocks influenced bubblegum punk band. "Everything Falls Apart" just starts soaring right away with teenage heartbreak lyrics and sugar sweet melodies. I'm a sucker for this stuff! Maximum Rock-N-Roll 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 Third Eye Butterfly's new 7" sound like two different bands! The A-Side, is power-pop. The B-side, "Skin", with it's deep rumble to scare off rain clouds is more in line of how inspired this band could get. Buzzzz 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 Local band's debut 7" is not the Husker Du song though it is similar classic punky pop with a melody a sharp and as memorable as that the Husker's first brush with lasting greatness eleven years ago. The looping bassline and up-tempo cheerful up/down chords suggest folks who are so damn happy to be playing it seeps through the drum fills and especially Julian Gallo and Charlie Caracciolo's soaring twin vocals in the chorus, and it's a really good song from the first play. Jack Rabid The Big Takeover 1993 "Everything Falls Apart"/"Skin" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1993 TEB gets heavy with "Skin", a dark, driving number with ballsy vox from drummer Charles Caracciolo, then lightens up with "Everything...", in a classic piece of post-punk pop in the Who/Kinks/Jam/Buzzcocks tradition. This single is a must have, but see 'em live. Andy Glass The Musicians Exchange 1993 "Life Is Elsewhere"/"Play With The Rainmaker" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1994 "Life is Elsewhere" is an ambitious pop gem that really works. From the simple three chord structure to the bright vocals, the track is happy-sounding and instantly hummable despite the lyrical content. "Play With The Rainmaker" is more dour and serious, though still with a pop sense at it's core. This dark, thick ballad represents some very fine songwriting. The Village Noise # 17 1994 "Life Is Elsewhere"/"Play With The Rainmaker" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1994 Third Eye Butterfly, a NY-based trio has just released their second 7" single, "Life is Elsewhere" b/w "Play With The Rainmaker". It's got hooks. Catchy hooks. I mean really catchy. You'll definitely be singing the chorus after the first listen. "Liiiiiife is elsewhere". Belive me. It almost crosses the line into sappy pop zone but thankfully it remains on the right side of the border. In other words they've got a good balance of punk pop, driving fuzzy guitars, a pounding beat and incredible vocal harmonies. The strong songwriting, energetic guitars, plesantly incessant drumming and cynical lyrics make for a well crafted record. The B-side is slower-paced and almost a ballad. "Don't ever expect me to smile again" sings Gallo. Pick this one up. You'll smile (even if you don't want to). What Now? # 1 December 1994 "Life Is Elsewhere"/"Play With The Rainmaker" 7" Psycho-Pop Records 1994 Flushing Queens' Third Eye Butterfly's second single builds on the promise of their first, "Everything Falls Apart" three times over. "Life is Elswhere" may be what every teen or suburban-dweller feels but New York City isn't that boring. So this song is about a once humming relationship gone stale as last night's Blimpie submarine sandwich and it's set to a biting Ned's Atomic Dustbin-style groove, well propelled by much-tightened rhythm section Charles and Carol Caracciolo. Gallo's slashing at his over effects driven guitar is a great contrast to his likable, put-upon and bemused voice. Like all great 7"ers, it makes one reach for the "repeat" button on the turntable so you can sing along. Moreover, the flip, "Play With The Rainmaker" is a refreshing about-turn, a classic 60s waltz with an enlivening acoustic top to bottom tag line. More bands need a 6/8 time song, it's such good variety. Here's a NY band in need of a full-length release if this is the repertoire they have up their sleeves. Jack Rabid The Big Takeover # 36 1994
On The High Wire (CD) Buzz Factory Records 2001 BITTERWEED is an edgy rock outfit from NYC whose 11 track release hits hard yet retains a level of intelligence that many other bands fail to reach. Distinctive guitars, such as the uber-crunch of "Pride", and the hauntingly acoustic vibe of "Down", lead Bitterweed's rock and roll charge, almost sounding at times like Pearl Jam's days of yore, especially when the wah-wah pedal gets the abuse it richly deserves. There's even elements of jazz, complete with some atmospheric saxophone, displayed on the seductive track "Dimebag". The secret weapon of this quartet, however, is front woman Linda LaPorte, whose vocal lines rival the smokiness of Stevie Nicks and the passion of Janis Joplin, truly exerting a strong female rock presence that many of today's rock chicks discernibly lack. ON THE HIGH WIRE is a reaffirmation that female fronted rock CAN be both rocking and sexy, without sacrificing one for the other. -- Mike SOS, 3:16Productions.com Boo! (CD) Buzz Factory Records 2005 Gritty NYC rock band Bitterweed’s latest offering BOO! showcases this female-fronted quartet’s dark edged hard rock. Sparkling with an unabashed intensity throughout the entire 10-track collection, you can almost feel the personal pain seeping through on tracks like “Joy” and “Love”, whose misleading song titles compellingly emit the opposite emotions. Displaying a keen sense on how to build a song to a hair-raising crescendo, tracks like “Living” with its jarring saxophone and tribal beat, the swirling big ‘90s rock stomp of “Pansy”, and the somberly tender tribute “Estas Aca” are when Bitterweed are at their best, moody, brooding, and locked in a deep groove. There aren’t a lot of smiley faces or sunshine rays passed around on BOO!, just a heap of grungy undertones, caustic riffs like the one in “Seizure”, and a plethora of anger and confusion put to good work while exposing the underbelly of life in the Big Apple. Mike SOS 3:16 Productions
Standing On Lorimer Street Awaiting Crucifixion Alpha Beat Press, 31 Waterloo Street, New Hope, PA 18938 This is Julian Gallo's first poetry collection and let me tell you that he can write. Especially in his longer poems like "Brooklyn Rain". In part two he starts out: "I wonder how many dreams will be hung/off the old parachutte jump in Coney Island/or off the trees in the churchyard on Stuyvesant Street". That's just one nice line from this haunting and power-packed poem. It makes me feel like I know New York even though I have never lived there. It also reinforces the fact that everywhere you go people are people. They do the same horrible things in New York as they do in Mississippi. Gallo's poem "Generation Exit" is also a killer. Being a member of Generation X myself, I'm glad Gallo wrote this poem. In these poems you'll find hints of Ginsberg and it's obvious that Gallo has been influenced by the man. However Gallo definitely has his own voice here. He's building on what Ginsberg did, pushing it even farther. I strongly recommend that you buy this collection. Dan Crocker Ism - Issue # 2 1996 The Terror Of Your Cunt Is The Beauty Of Your Face Black Spring Press, 1999 Julian Gallo is a writer who wields his pen like a surgeon's knife, applying and cutting words and remarks here and there. He lets loose his thoughts with a steady stream of unconscious thoughts, colorful metaphors and beautiful turns of phrases. "A Dream" reads: You are standing under an awning and the rain that is falling is made of glass. You hold out your hand to show it to me uinder the light. It glistens and I can hear it sing. They sound like a choir of angels to me; that is until you opened your palm and dropped the crystalline flakes into the gutter. Suddenly, they sound like the screams of the damned." Something is slightly amiss in Gallo's world. There is a sadness that he effectively puts into words that sing. "Just Thinking" reads: I'm lost in a Cy Twombly landscape, feeling my way through child-like freedom only to be stymied by adult realities. The trumpets are deafening and the red carpet has been unfurled before garbage. Take tentative steps, small, tentative steps, or else track dirt all the way home." You sense a loss of innocence in his poems. The title of the chapbook originally put me off but now I understand it. The terror of sexuality is overcome in the virginal youth and he seccumbs to the woman's beauty. He is no longer innocent and the world is a sadder, dirtier place. Powerful poems. Definitely check this out. Ralph Haselmann Jr. Blacklisted Reviews 1999 Street Gospel Mystical Intellectual Survival Codes Budget Press, 2764 Caminito Cedros, Del Mar California 92014 2000 A small chapbook of 13 poems. Some about New York. Some about a woman. The city glimpses are more personal and sometimes less accessible to me that the ones his woman moves through in such fresh and quirky snapshots as "Interesting": She says/she likes/flowers because/they never/scream when/they die. My other favorite moment here is "Quirks": She shaves/her legs/and I/am amused/by how/she taps/the razor/against the/floor because/she thinks/it will/kill the spiders. Available from Budget Press, 2764 Caminito Cedros, Del Mar California 92014. Michael Kriesel Katnip Reviews 2000 Street Gospel Mystical Intellectual Survival Codes Budget Press, 2000 Gallo's latest chapbook winds it's way through the streets of New York City, past subway stations, porno theaters and whores, lit by the Brooklyn moon. As he passes mimes, dogs digging through trash and Jehovah's Witnesses, he ruminates on the irony that confusion illuminates, the introspection one can only achieve by killing bugs, all set to Charlie Parker and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Reading this chapbook, I've been transported to a rainy New York night, smoking a cig in real time as the city passes by me in slow motion, everything translucent and unambiguous. Johnnie B. Baker 2000 Scrape That Violin More Darkly Then Hover Like Smoke In The Air Black Spring Press, 2001 This is a fine looking chapbook that opens up to reveal the maggots squirming around in the dirt, for the poems are unpleasant and abrasive, rarely soaring to heights of poetic beauty. This is not to say that the poems aren't good. They are. They are just dark in their own way. Julian Gallo happens to be a poet who pokes through the falsehoods of daily living to reveal the guts working beneath the surface. For this, he is a brave poet, following his own muse. His poem, "Even Pavlov Couldn't Imagine This" decribes the horror and cravings of drug addiction aptly. Powerful stuff if you like your coffee black. Ralph Hasselman Jr. Blacklisted Reviews 2001 Scrape That Violin More Darkly Then Hover Like Smoke In The Air Black Spring Press, 2001 This is a decent chapbook by a writer I never heard of. It is full of a lot of free verse/free form poetry. Most of the poems are short and to the point and almost remind me of being in a dream-like state with their sometimes bizarre or off-the-wall description of things. This is from "The City": The nature of life/The city hangs there/like black cloth/awashed with pedestrian/subject matter./Why on earth are all these people milling around? If you are looking for something different, give this chapbook a try. Cari Taplin Katnip Reviews 2001 A Symphony of Olives Propaganda Press 2009 Julian Gallo’s chapbook, A Symphony of Olives is published by Alternating Current's Propaganda Press. Isn’t the title marvelous? It is brought by the poem’s title in the collection and is also in the line of another poem. Mr. Gallo lives in New York City as a writer/musician and painter with many previous books published such as Standing On Lorimer Street Awaiting Crucifixion published by Alpha Beat Press in 1996 and novel November Rust published by Lulu in 2007. This particular collection of poems runs from light-hearted to critical and ranges from personal relationships to whimsical scenarios. Below are a few of my favorites: Afternoon Delight Like a red-eyed scavenger you devoured my thoughts one by one. You sometimes sit with predatory hands, waiting to snatch any Word that can be used against me. You hear me but you never listen; for that would take too much effort. You are not what I always thought you were. No, you are just one of the rubber gloved elite, an aging debutante peering at the faded portraits through your own weathered prism. Interesting juxtaposition of the title to the poem itself! The lover sounds like a buzzard in the beginning and at the end is an aging debutante, opposites are engaged throughout the poem giving light to the conflict in the relationship yet the title indicates affection. Very clever surprise. Rules Of The Game And I try to teach myself many things. A professor of the self, incessantly searching for the right way, the only way, in fact for me to get on with things. Apart from the myths of today’s age. Apart from the standards someone else has set. Apart from the rules of the game that I don’t want to be a contestant in. It’s not an easy thing when you tell someone that you don’t feel like playing. They will try their best to make you play, for they will not tolerate any insubordination, any insurrection of any sort. There are rules to this game and you must abide by them or else be disqualified and forever withheld the dice. It never occurs to them that you never wanted the dice in the first place. It never occurs to them that one is just simply not willing to play. You must conform, must be part of things. Nothing else is tolerated. They want you to play so they can try to beat you. They want to win and badly for this kind of success is most desired. Otherwise they may have to face the extreme Failure of their own. This could just as easily have been titled “Society” don’t you think? I have always felt the way the poet describes himself here, I’m sure most of you have as well. Whether it be office politics, family or friends’ gatherings, there are unspoken rules to be followed and those who do not follow are immediately punished. I like that the ending says the game really has nothing to win which is obvious to all but the rule-followers who refuse to face reality. Silence Over A Bridge All of this of course is silence over a bridge. Or a papal bull. Or a royal decree. All of this is everything and nothing. Oil. Lather. A codex of blood written on towels. A piece of a symphonic bible kept hidden in jars under the sink. All of this of course is bullshit, designed to project something lost in childhood reverie which itself was lost with dust bunnies under the couch. Sexuality is the power you weild Designed to ensnare the more deceived among us. But I am not fooled. I know better. It is nothing more than the tap of phlegm in old rusty spittoons. I like all the strange imagery: “codex of blood/written on towels” and “symphonic bible” and then it shifts to the poet revealing these words as “bullshit” and that all things people use to fool one another is “nothing more than the tap of phlegm/in old rusty spittoons.” It’s a strange poem and that is why I like it. Blogspot.Poethound.com April 2009