Cunning Stunts

Cows: Shannon Selberg (vocals); Thor Eisentrager (guitar); Kevin Rutmanis (bass); Norm Rogers (drums).
Personnel: Shannon Selberg (vocals); Thor Eisentrager (guitar); Norm Rogers (drums).
Liner Note Author: Morgan Mundane.
Recording information: Gark Studios.
The initial big bang of punk sludge that heralded the Cows had begun to cool and coalesce into a noise that resembled actual songs by the time of 1992's CUNNING STUNTS. The music still festers and crawls on its belly, but sturdy blues riffs and rugged buried melodies start poking through the vortex. Other Midwest bands like Tar and The Jesus Lizard may have gotten slightly more press, but Cows were perhaps the vanguard act of Minneapolis hometown label Amphetamine Reptile. The maniacal howls and frantic building tension of "The Woman Inside" sound like a madman's internal monologue, and "Heave Ho" confounds expectations with stuttering blasts of trumpet in the midst of a sinister groove.