unlistenable

adj.
Being such that listening with comfort or pleasure is impossible: an unlistenable operatic solo; an unlistenable diatribe.

• Artist: Steel Pole Bath Tub
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 17, 2002
• Genre: Rock

Review

Recorded in 1996, this last recording from San Francisco's Steel Pole Bath Tub was deemed "unlistenable" by the major label they had recorded it for at the time. The label called it "a soundtrack to nothing." How a band like Steel Pole Bath Tub ever ended up on a major label is a mystery. It was part of the insanity of the mid-'90s that bands like Steel Pole Bath Tub and the Melvins could ever have caused major-label execs to see dollar signs. Few of the noisier bands to get signed lasted more than a year or two on major labels and many, like Steel Pole Bath Tub, broke up immediately afterwards. On the other hand, a "soundtrack to nothing" isn't such a bad description of this album. The vocals are mostly buried behind repetitive music and many of the songs sound more like bits and pieces or soundtrack outtakes than a real album. Certainly, it was ridiculous to think a major label would release a record that doesn't even really rock and is bizarre in an early Butthole Surfers sort of way. The labels that specialized in the noisier acts of the time, Amphetamine Reptile or Touch and Go, generally put out records that were more focused. But there is plenty to enjoy on Unlistenable, from their whacked-out cover of the Cars' "What I Need" to any number of songs that range from the almost pretty to the consciously weird and lazy. It's not at all a bad record, but it sure is messy and all over the place. ~ Adam Bregman, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Spoon House- Action Man Theme		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:24)
Black Eye Fixer		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(3:59)
What I Need		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(4:12)
Re-Juvenilated		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(3:38)
Teenage Middle Finger		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:12)
Kinder Party		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:24)
Spun		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(5:10)
Jack Aloha		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(3:12)
Hot Water into Steam		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(2:26)
The Good Times		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:58)
Cherry Tomato		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:43)
Glad Ass		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:33)
Old Man Bar		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(3:48)
Park Night		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:35)
H20 2		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:47)
My Best Friends a Girl		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(2:24)
[Untitled Track]		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(1:42)
[Untitled Track]		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(3:23)
[Untitled Track]		Steel Pole Bath Tub	(26:07)

Credits

Darren Mor-X (Liner Notes), Mike Morasky (?), Dale Flattum (?)