I suppose it's possible that to really understand what I want to say about Pipe's International Cement, you'll have to know a little bit about drummer Chuck Garrison. So, briefly: Chuck has played drums, at various times, for Zen Frisbee, Superchunk, Small, Evil Weiner, Pipe, and I'm sure a million others. He played on at least 9 CDs in my collection, plus god knows how many singles. And he's got the most immediately identifiable snare sound in the Triangle.
What I want to say about International Cement is this: I put this record at #1 on my list of local releases this year because I have never heard Chuck Garrison sound as good as he does here. There are several things going on here: Pipe play loose, boozy punkrock that's got plenty of room for Chuck to play around (the fills on this album are incredible), but the songs are so fast that he never gets to wander for more than a couple of beats.
And, thanks to the mad production skills of Mitch Easter, the drums on this record just simply *sound* better than on just about any other record made in the Triangle, period. I could haul out all the semi-useless adjectives, but what's the point? Let me just say that I'd gladly let somebody beat me to death with two sticks if the result came out sounding this fine.
So: partly because Pipe make great snarly punkrock, partly because this is the first Pipe record with guitarist Cliff Mann that lives up to the high-water mark set with their previous guitarist, Mike Kenlan (the absolutely crucial "Human Gutterball"/"Figure 8" Merge 7"). But mostly because I've been a Chuck Garrison fan for, oh, 5 years now, and I don't think he's ever sounded better. And Chuck at his best is fine indeed.
--Ross Grady
Okay. Take me back to the crucial local records of 1996 page.
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