Uncle Wiggly - “Crow (As In Eat)” from 1992’s There Was An Elk.
Shimmy Disc, the New York based indie label in the 80s and beyond, were most known for their flagship band Bongwater as well as groups like Galaxie 500, Ween, and King Missile who would go on to greater fame after leaving the label.
However, the labels best acts were the least visible ones, such as The Mabuses, Jellyfish Kiss, The Tinklers, and best of all, Uncle Wiggly.
While The Mabuses’ self titled album is the label’s best album, Uncle Wiggly has the greatest run of releases on Shimmy Disc than any other band. Granted, that makes only two full lengths, but each one is incredibly solid — 1991’s Across The Room And Into Your Lap and 1992’s double-LP There Was An Elk.
Saying Uncle Wiggly were underrated would be itself an understatement. Figuring they were WFMU’s ambassadors to the birth of Indie Rock, for all intents and purposes, they should have been the most prominent. However, perhaps due to their experimental nature, they were ignored even in the underground. Even their fellow weird cohorts in California, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, were more known.
And speaking as a Stan for both the Fellers and Uncle Wiggly, I have to say that There Was An Elk was a better 2-LP than the Fellers’ 1992 2-LP Mother Of All Saints. Both records are fantastic, but Elk is on its own level. There’s less noise and more Meat Puppets versus Mother Of All Saints, but this doesn’t stop Uncle Wiggly from filling the sprawl with edge first to final track.
“Crow (As In Eat)” is a good example of the marriage of both of these fine records.
UPDATE: I didn’t double-check, and it turns out the long-form There Was An Elk was only on CD format. The vinyl is trimmed down to single LP length. Assuming the CD format, I stand by the above still.
