While many rock groups remain obscure that doesn't mean info on them is difficult to find, and nearly any group you've never heard of has a fanbase waiting in the wings to tell you all about them. Inflatable Boy Clams isn't one of those groups. Their sole EP is a bizarre anomaly in rock music, akin to the Shaggs covering Siouxsie and the Banshee's "There's a Planet in My Kitchen", then playing it reverse. I was considering swapping the "Post-Punk" tag for "Post-Music", and I haven't even played a single track for you yet. Just listen to this:
I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes*. Writing about these guys is a unique challenge, and the only suggestion I have is to keep an open mind. I can only assume the name is nonsense, and that trying to decode it will result in a nice long stay in a padded room with a Chinese finger trap for sleeves. The best information I've been able to find is on this helpful site dedicated to the group's EP and unraveling their mystery. It's actually a little shocking to see that people made this - I would have assumed it materialized from the Mongo Dimension. The four women went on to play with other obscure San Francisco Post-Punk/New Wave groups like Voice Farm, The Pink Section and Longshoremen, but I have no idea how they formed, except to speculate upon back-room plots conducted in their private loonspeak. I have a theory about what they're going for, but I'd like to play another track just to be sure:
The fansite includes a section called "Stories", and at the top Jojo Planteen, one of the members, wrote a poem about the group that includes the line "sounding like 10-year-olds." The songs are all purposefully sloppy and seemingly improvised, and the singing and instrumental skills all point to a massive dose of "cute". After I thought their Post-Punk credentials were dubious, it hit me that the album works best as the tape a bunch of 10-year-olds would make in imitation of their favorite Post-Punk band. "I'm Sorry" infers a demented sense of humor akin to the bantering inside the piano in between bouts of music on Frank Zappa's album Lumpy Gravy. This can't be seen as unintentional, Shaggs-style, because everybody involved is an adult, and from what I've gathered from stories about the band they considered it a goofball art project. While "Skeletons" may have been borne out of Halloween memories, "I'm Sorry" seems to refer to the complaints and stories that fly around female friend circles, so analyzing the group as an airtight conceptual project is a lost cause.
The EP is one of those odd cases where I can't explain what it is or whether or not I like it, but now that I've experienced it I can't imagine a world without it. It's a credit to democracy that something like this can exist, and I can imagine most listeners getting annoyed after 30 seconds (like I did with Cibo Matto**). The fansite wasn't created by a hardcore fan, but rather by somebody like me - a curious listener who stumbled across the album not knowing what it was but in the mood to find out. I'm glad they got in contact with some people involved with the group, as that can be a rare experience. Inflatable Boy Clams shouldn't be viewed as anything more than an object unto itself, making a home outside of trends and fashions. I'd be tempted to call it a brilliant piece of outsider art if I didn't know the members' pedigree. If you don't like any of it I certainly can't stop you, and maybe that's what they wanted. This whole article may have been a waste of time, but I certainly had fun speculating and any chance I can get to link to their songs is a good chance to me.
The only way to end the article is with the last song on the EP, "Snoteleks". I'll let you guess what it sounds like before you listen.
~PNK
*Yes!
**PSST! Don't tell anybody that I don't like Cibo Matto, they'll revoke my Music Critic license! I'm not kidding!
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