LTD TO 100
L. EUGENE METHE (pronounced meth-e) is a sub-underground DIY lifer. At age 17, Methe started performing at bars in Omaha, Nebraska, fronting a band with six guitars, bass and drums that sounded like a disparate mix of the Spacemen 3 and Henry Mancini. Methe has since released dozens of recordings on numerous labels, moving in a variety of musical directions. He also owns and curates Gertrude Tapes, a label that since 2003 has released experimental vinyl and cassettes in small editions. Its eclectic roster includes artists Dan Melchior, Linda Smith and Nancy Andrews, Dennis Young (Liquid Liquid), Zach Rowden, Mary Staubitz and Russ Waterhouse, A.F. Jones, and others.
Maybe, Tomorrow, which is out June 23rd via Grapefruit Records, marks Methe’s first lyrical-based LP since 2011’s Calendar Work (Grapefruit). In the decade after Calendar Work, Methe focused on instrumental albums with Citizen Electrical (a string and electronics duo with Megan Siebe), Rake Kash, and experimental quartet Naturaliste, which recorded its 2021 Temporary Presence LP in a Shanghai, China, music shop in 2019. Methe also has contributed keyboards to records by Dennis Callaci, Simon Joyner, Refrigerator and Brian Crook of the Renderers.
Maybe, Tomorrow trades the lush, acoustic instrumentation of Calendar Work for all electric gear. Minor chords, discordant organ washes and detuned synthesizer stabs punctuate the songs. Violin arrangements are processed with vintage samplers. Low art occasionally seeps into the consciousness: the electric guitar tone was inspired (unironically) by Paul Reynolds from A Flock of Seagulls, but it ultimately came out sounding like a lawnmower run through a flanger pedal.
