Los Angeles, California: Alternative legends Sponge follow their acclaimed 1994 covers album with a fresh collection certain to enthrall their legions of dedicated fans. It’s called Electric Cattle Gods - The Lost Tracks, and you know you need to know why.
Electric Cattle Gods was to be the name emblazoned across the marquee of the now-shuttered Ritz Concert Hall on Gratiot and Frazho in Roseville MI circa 1992-1993. A new band (actually, an old one, Point Break movie highlight Loudmouth, making a fresh start) was announcing its arrival on the local scene and… well, that’s what they were called.
Only they weren’t, because when club owner Joe Sgrol heard the news, he simply sighed. “We don’t have enough letters for that!”
He expected the band to be dismayed., Instead, they replied, “do you have enough letters for ‘Sponge’?”
“We do,” said Joe.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Releasing on November 14, Electric Cattle Gods - The Lost Tracks is, as its subtitle suggests, a dynamic collection of rare and unreleased recordings capturing the very dawn of Sponge… back to the days, in fact, before they were forced to come up with a brand new name for themselves.
Included are eleven never-before-released raw, exuberant demos and try-outs - some that probably haven’t been heard in over 30 years; others that would later be recorded for the band's 1994 major label debut Rotting Piñata - among them “Drownin’” and Sponge’s breakout hit "Molly (16 Candles),” the b-side “Cowboy Eyes” and more.
But that’s not all! Two brand new recordings, too, are included on the album, among them one of the mightiest of them all. “Wet Brain” is a solid Sponge classic, and is released today as the band’s new single and an utterly captivating lyric video that not only perfectly matches the song, it’s exquisitely tied to the season as well. After all, what’s the first thing you think of when you contemplate Halloween?
Why, a giant pulsating brain in the middle of your living room, of course!
SINGLE: https://orcd.co/sponge_wetbrain
So that’s it, and what more could you ask for? Vintage demos, storming new epics and an origin story that could easily have rewritten 90s alternative history. For whatever reason, one word band names were everywhere back then - maybe a lot of venues had run out of lettering for their marquee? But if the Ritz had only had enough, the Electric Cattle Gods might have trampled that trend forever.
CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=sponge+electric+cattle+gods
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/sponge_ecgthelosttracks
Track listing
1. In The Name Of God
2. Velocity 555
3. Nadja Hello
4. Slower Suicide
5. Cowboy Eyes
6. Blowz
7. Welcome Home
8. Down In Texas
9. Wet Brain
10. Desert Low
11. Molly (16 Candles)
12. Drownin'
13. Gal
