SCATERD FEW: Grandmother's Spaceship LP/black vinyl

• Black vinyl with a 12x12 insert
• First time on vinyl!
• 4 out of 5 star rating on Phantom Tollbooth Reviews
• Limited to just 200 units
• Remastered for vinyl by Rob Colwell at Bombworks Sound
• Originally released 1998 on Jackson Rubio Records

ABOUT THE ALBUM
In 1998 band leader, Allan Aguirre reassembled an entirely new cast for Scaterd Few and recorded Grandmother’s Spaceship, which he describes as “hard punk, funk, reggae, and futuristic, with angst, realism, and psychedelia.” He also jokingly referred to the record as Sin Disease 2, and most reviewers believe it to be a worthy successor to that revered masterpiece. The record evinces a very aggressive, predominantly punk sound with a science fiction “space alien” theme dominating or affecting many of its songs. The theme sometimes seems to serve as a concept for portraying the alienation of believers who live in a world where they are increasingly unwelcome. But in terms of content, the songs come much closer to mainstream Christian music than previous Scaterd Few projects, with fairly obvious religious allusions. The summons to “Wake up, sleeper ” in “Lullaby” echoes Ephesians 5:14, and the cry of “Death, where is your sting?” in “Incorruptible” is from 1 Corinthians 15:55. “Win the Fisher ” is a one-line song whose only lyric comes almost straight from Mark 1:17. The most up-front line in “Arbitrator ” (“You’ve knit me, fearfully and wonderfully made”) is from Psalm 139:14. But a number of songs explore darker, scarier stuff. “As the Story Grows, V. 2” presents voices that berate Christians from a world that has heard it all: “We like the smell of hell / How dare you try to tell us that / He died to set us free.” “Space Junk” records questions that assault the believer (“how can you believe in a god that lets small children suffer?”) and ends with a desperate cry (“get out of my mind!”) that identifies the assailant, this time, as within. “Bobby’s Song” (from which the album title comes) tells a bizarre story about a grandmother waiting for a flying saucer to take her away, with shades of the infamous Heaven’s Gate cult suicides; the song features the memorable line, “When you wish upon a star, you better know whose stars they are.” Remastered to perfection by Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound, the album finds a very worthy new life on black vinyl and comes with a 12x12 insert for fans - FINALLY!  Limited to just 200 copies, don't delay in getting this revered, treasured classic.  

.....MORE ABOUT THE ALBUM
Once again, Allan Aguirre brought in new band members to lend their skills to another formation of Scaterd Few. This album dabbles in the otherness and identity of those following God through the imagery of “alienation in an alien nation.” In my ears Grandmother’s Spaceship does not wield the same intensity as the first two Scaterd Few albums, though it is a colorful and energized soundscape in its own ranks.

In the manic indie rock Space Junk, Aguirre screams out in triplicate “How can you believe in a God that…” with three different barely audible indictments aligned to cyber-age intelligentsia argumentation. The song ends with: “Is it harder to see the pure simplicity of you and me are waves and micros redefining the free when cyber-space defines your reality?” Strong imagery to open the album. Win The Fisher is reminiscent of the Primus bass-guitar interplay. Lyrically, it is subpar, which is rare form for Aguirre.
Like Space Junk, Arbitrator is thematically apologetic. Quoting from Psalm 119 and the book of Amos, amongst other biblical references, this track extracts the detail humanity is made in as well as the humility that humanity would be better off to embrace. Species declares that “God was broken from death, was woken, became the Token for human kind species, filled with anti-matter.”

Incorruptible is credited to all three members playing on the album. Musically it has the force and delivery of bands in the Soundgarden vein, as identified in its wall of thick guitar. Next up, Vanishing is a roaming track with some beefy riffage and gang vocals, and then it outros into three minutes of a reggae jam with vocals of praise echoing into the atmosphere. It is in these eclectic ventures that good songs become timeless in leaving lasting impressions that can be revisited decades later. Brilliant stuff.
Suspension My Love kicks out the jams with some funkified rock not far removed from the Red Hot Chillie Peppers. It features a cool and eerie vocal delivery that brings it back to the alien theme.

The pinnacle of the album finds itself in the rampaging Bobby’s Song about a boy whose grandma had an extra-terrestrial visit. Scaterd Few does not dismiss these mysteries but are more centered on “the Light of Truth Eternal upon the mysteries found in this song.”

Worm Hole is a crazy fast number written by the guitarist on this album, Russell Archer. Man, can that guy play! Splendor, also written by Archer, again explores other-worldliness through the imagery of the Sons of God being revealed: “But we ourselves are yearning, Creatures who hope for what we have not patiently, … Body redemption … By our adoption … Future splendor.” Maybe no one told you to bring a theological dictionary to the Scaterd Few listening party but it would not hurt at this juncture.
On the prior Sin Disease the epic ballad As The Story Grows always felt unfinished in its brevity. That snippet of a ballad now finds its continuation with the Bowie-esque As The Story Grows V.2, this album’s closer. It completes the song well, also bringing summation to the alien/alienation theme.   (Doug Peterson / Music Critic)

Tracklist
Space Junk
Lullaby
Win The Fisher
Arbitrator
Future Love
Species
Incorruptible
Vanishing
Suspension My Love...
Bobby's Song
Twinkling Of An Eye
Worm Hole
Splendor
As The Story Grows V.2