more reviews - Holland's Roadburn and Joe Mathlete

Holland's Roadburn gave us some nice props: http://www.roadburn.com/

We also got some love from Joe Mathlete who put our album on his Top 15 Albums for 2007 -Yuss!!

Skyline and Space City Rock put us in some very good company

First off, we made The Skyline 50 which is pretty cool. You can find us in Part 1 but the rest of the list is pretty choice:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Then, as if that wasn't awesome enough, Space City Rock reviewed three Grey Ghost releases which included our good friends Mlee Marie (Mlee Suprean of Hearts of Animals' acoustic persona) and Ben Murphy (of Bright Men of Learning) as well as our humble entry into the series. Considering my* admiration for Mlee and Ben that is really awesome. Anyhow, very nice stuff and well deserved love for our good friend John Sears who has been behind the series. Here is the link:

• Mlee Marie, BDM, Linus Pauling Quartet

* I'm given to using we a lot but Charlie chided me for speaking of the band in the plural.

South By South West 2008

Guess what friends? We'll be playing South by Southwest in 2008. See you there.

Our Beloved Proletariat will be closing it's doors in February

The LP4 outside the Proletariat

Here in Houston the LP4 considers two clubs home - Rudyard's and the Proletariat. Sadly ADR at Skyline network announced today that The Proletariat (where the cover for All Things are Light Was shot) will be closing on February 4th 2008. Very sad news indeed. Thank you Denise, Dunnock, Shawna, and all the rest the staff past and present for giving us five great years of music and memories. We'll be drinking it up until the bittersweet end,

Article:

Worst Monday ever: Proletariat to close...

Shazaaam! We have achieved “heaviosity”

Foxy Digitalis gives us 8 out of 10 of these Shazaam! symbols and proclaims that we have achieved "heaviosity!" All right!

Read the whole review here: Jeff Penczak Reviews All Thins Are Light

More reviews/articles for your consideration

Ned Raggett at Allmusic reviewed All Things Are Light (4 out of 5 stars) saying "...a core point about the Linus Pauling Quartet isn't merely that they're a great psych band, but a great band period, able to embrace a lot of styles and moods and work them well" and comparing Enchirito to Psychic Powerless era Butthole Surferes is one very nice compliment indeed.

Here is the link to the article: [http:// wm08.allmusic.com / cg/ amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dvfuxzwhldse]

Also, Skyline posted a very cheeky "review" of Grey Ghost #48 - HAWG! YUSSSSS! \m/

You can see that here:
http:// www.theskyline.net/ 2007/ 12/ review-linus-pauling- quartet-hawg-grey.html

This week super duper limited edition LP4 CDR - Grey Ghost #48

Yes, the limits of vinyl made it so that we had to drop the 11-minute two-chord lecherous pill-popping dying-in-a-hail-of-bullets complete-with-Otis-Redding-Rave-up biker-epic HAWG! Next week will see a very limited release of this song as Grey Ghost #48 and will be sold only at Domy books for one week only beginning Sunday Dec 2nd. The Grey Ghost series only publishes 13 copies of these and sells them for $2. Once they are gone, they are gone.

Above is the mock-up of the cover which appropriates the cover from the Party Owls' classic 7" EP Rock Out!

More Album Reviews this week

Hooray, more album reviews:

Ptolemaic Terrascope: Phil McMullen reveals to us that while an Enchirito may not be universal the glory that is a spork is:

Ptolemaic Terrascope November 2007 Reviews

Skyline Network: ADR makes a unique and not all inaccurate connection. Yes, I own a Superfuzz and a Bigmuff and saw Mudhoney play at the Axiom back in the late 80s.

Skyline Network Review

Local reviews, interviews, articles.

Well we've gotten some very nice press over the last week locally so here is a round up:

Space City Rock: A really nice album review from Jeremy Hart

• All Things Are Light by Jeremy Hart
• Rockin Your Shit (a record release preview)
  

Houston Press: Nick Hall wrote an article and two blogs on us within one week (nutters!!!)

• The Light Brigade
• Q & A: The Linus Pauling Quartet
• Two Nights Ago: Linus Pauling Quartet, the Jonx, Jenny Westbury at Proletariat

Houston Press Article (plus links to the referenced sword metal blogs)

Hey everyone, Nick Hall wrote a very nice piece about us in the Houston Press. You can read it here at: http://music.houstonpress.com/2007-11-08/music/the-light-brigade/

If you are coming upon our blog from the article, the blogs nick refers to in his piece are these two:

• http://linuspaulingquartet.blogspot.com/2006/04/another-fascinating-intellectual.html
• http://linuspaulingquartet.blogspot.com/2006/04/sword-metal-part-ii.html

Attention EU Fans - New LP available NOW! (N.A. Fans you have one more week)

Attention EU fans our new one is now available via our distributor Clear Spot. Only 50 copies made their way across the pond so get them while you can.


North American Fans fear not the US release date is one week away (Nov 6th) via our distributor CTD.

Thanks to all you who came out to Sound Ex on Wednesday

Thanks for coming down to Sound Exchange, celebrating with us, eating 6 large-ass Pizzas, and drinking a hella lot of beer.


I'd have pictured but my batteries died on my digital. C'est la vie.

If you don't live in Houston you are (mostly) out of luck....

We have three things to report this week so pay attention kiddos!

Local LP Presale

This Wednesday 24th of October we're having a small presale of the new album at about 5-5:30ish at Sound Exchange complete with pizza and beer.

This is just something for our local friends and neighbors and an excuse to eat pizza and drink beer after work. Those of you living outside of Houston will simply have to wait until November 6th when it will be officially available via CTD in North America or Clear Spot in the EU.


Record Release Poster and Line-up

Also, here is the line-up for our record release hootenanny at the Proletariat:

Jenny Westbury: A woman whose clever songwriting and understated performance is likely underappreciated in this town - we aim to change that. Come out early or we will kick your ass.

The Jonx: Math rock brains meets punk rock aggression from a trio whose latest album is one of the best albums from 2007. Did you hear me say local albums? No I said albums - Period! Buy the album and see for yourself.

The Mathletes [Featuring the Dimes] : Joe Mathlete takes his brand of youthful pop and gives it some indie muscle with the always jaw-dropping Dimes. I can't wait to see them tear up "Animals"!

Media Page

Yes, we have stooped to a new low - a "New Album" media page for newspapers and magazines . Thanks to Matt Brownlie (Bring Back the Guns) and Melissa Lonchambon (Sharks and Sailors) for giving us ideas to shamelessly steal and Rosa Guerrero for being so kind as to take the time to photograph us (which is a pretty damn painful thing when you think about it).

http://www.worshipguitars.org/LP4/Media/

Dig it! "All Things are Light" Assembly!

If i could make a Linus Pauling Video It would look somethign Like this...

Jacket Artwork has been sent to Ross Ellis.

One word....

YUSSSSSSSSSSS!

Updated LP Street Date November 6th 2007

The street date on "All Things Are Light" has been bumped back a week to November 6th at the request of the distributor.

That is all carry on.

New Lp Street date Oct 30th 2007

The new LP is finishing up production (we're largely down to jackets, inserts, and assembly) and we now have a street date of October 30th. You can get the scoop at Camera Obscura Records and at Skyline Network.

Tally Ho Tally Ho - LP and July 4th show update

Crazy how well this is all going. Last week we had a listening party for the test pressing and it sounds great!!! The only downside was United goofed on the locked groove but a quick phone call on the following Monday cleared everything up. They were super nice and super helpful. Hell the engineer even called me to ask where we wanted the locked groove to hit. It was really nice of him to take the time to call and I was happy he put some pride in his work. The blank locked groove error was simply a miscommunication on the order form. So here it is a week later and Clinton says he got the new pressings in and he said "They nailed the locked groove!" Sweet, I can't wait to hear it. Now we just have to work on the covers, inserts and CDRs! Joy! We wouldn't kill ourselves on this if we weren't sure it was the best thing we've done. Consider this our "Fuck you! Top this motherfucker" release.

In the meantime are now getting ready for our July 4th show; it's our last show until October since Clinton is about to join me in Rock and Roll fatherhood. So we've been rehearsing double time as we were so busy with mixing and mastering the LP that before we knew it we didn't have much time to actually, you know, rehearse. But we're in pretty good shape for the show. We'll be playing with Novox for a very patriotic Turbojugend Humpday this Wednesday at Rudyards. Given it's July 4th we're not starting until 11PM so you can come by after the fireworks. We're playing first and Novox will be closing the evening. Given it's a weeknight, we plan to end around 1PM so you can get a few Zs before you head home. Plus remember if you don't come to our show, the terrorists have won.

July 4th - the only LP4 show until at least October

(Click to enlarge)

Come on out to Rudyard's after the fireworks. We'll start at 11pm and perform our new album and one more song followed by Novox doing their set about midnight. Remember if you don't come to our show, the terrorists have won. God bless America.

Bust out the champagne!

Or at least the beer. We just listened to the final masters on the remnants of my parents' Luxman stereo, purchased in 1981. With big-ass Polk Audio speakers of the same vintage, it sounded pretty full. All Hail the Luxman!

Long story short, the mastering process yielded awesome results and everyone is very happy with the mixes, dynamics and EQ. The masters are shipped off to the plant, so now it's just waiting.

I would like to take credit for this thing sounding so good but it's all Steve: he busted his ass, both during the recording process and during the mixing process, applied a tremendous amount of skill and know how, and only threatened to kill us all once or twice.

Ramon brought a flagon of Chimay, which we drained promptly but we saved the champagne he brought for next time, when the vinyl gets here. We still have a LOT of work to do, but the toughest part is done.

Mixing is done.

Hell yeah, we just put the finishing touches on the mixes. I'm beat and going to bed. Goodnight!

Studio Week two

Tuesday and Wednesday are our last mixing sessions. So far we have 5 of 7 songs mixed with just two more to go. The 5 tracks we've mixed so far sound great in the car and on the home stereo (though on the crappy home headphones they sound like ass so maybe it's time to upgrade those). So wish us luck on these last two and we'll see ya around. Hard to believe that, barring any unforeseen calamities, we should be shipping our materials to the pressing plant a week from today.

Meanwhile, for our British friends, remember National Siesta Day is fast approaching (July 11, 2007) so start practicing now!

Nobody can stop the LP Juggernaut now!

Last night was another marathon mixing session. Things are coming along nicely and with 3 more mixing sessions planned over the next two weeks so the Juggernaut's momentum is increasing daily and I think we're on track. Hell, we even just put down a deposit for the mastering session and stuck Steve with dealing with all the pressing plant's legal mumbo jumbo. We even had a big discussion about publishing issues (do we go with the ASCAP, BMI, SESAC route or do we go Creative Commons) and it was 4 against 1 to go the traditional publishing route. Yeah, real dull stuff my friends but the mixing part was quite painless and the beer was of reputable quality. You can't ask for more than that, can you?

Until the next transmission,
Continue to rock as Dio would have wanted,

There's a fire under our asses. Latest Lp update.

The new LP has suddenly blazed into high gear (a manufacturer's sale deadlines will do that to you). Belive it or not we have an LP tracked which will consist of 36 minutes of the material we have recorded thus far. Since we want to take full advantage of the fidelity of the LP format we will be mastering the album on Sunday May 27th at a studio outside our own that specializes in LPs. That Monday we will FedEx the package to the manufacturer. Crazy!!!!!!!! This means huge mixing sessions this week but it will be nice to crank it out.

The other good news is that pending final mixes, Australia's Camera Obscura, may be releasing this album. They have good distribution and we've always admired their roster of artists so we're hoping that they stay aboard.

What does this mean for you loyal LP4 fans? Well, it means that we'll actually have the Lps back before the covers and inserts are completed which still have to be put together. All in all we'll be on track for a late summer release of 500 purple vinyl LPs with a booklet and a CDR titled "All Things are Light".

Until our next transmission

Keep on rockin' in the free world,

Final Tracks for the new album are done...

Yes, that's right we just laid down the last two tracks for the upcoming album last night- a guitar solo and a guitar/analog delay feedback track for Alien Abduction. This means the next stage in the process is the portion we like to call "Drive Steve Crazy" which usually consists of mixing sessions where the band makes random suggestions that often contradict their last suggestions, random requests that an entire track be replaced by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, or the classic "make 50 remixes only to decide that the first one (made months ago) was really the best version". The only way to remain sane here is to bring good whiskey and beer: a lot if it.

Onward Men!!!!!

Stuff to do...

Tonight you can catch The Defenistration Unit (with our own Charlie H) at Notsuoh with the Mathletes.



Then, Thursday at Rudz I will be playing in Kilian Sweeney's Redo Makeshift Band. I'll be playing with ex-schmoggers like Chris Bakos, Kilian Sweeney, and Johnathan Sage which means...I'm so waaay out of my league. So I'll be there holding down the bell curve for the rest of the class which will include (I'm told) Mike Switzer and Joe Mathlete.

Bright Men of Learning, who really burn it up on stage, will be playing along with the Mathletes are just fun fun fun. Rudyard's, BMOL, Mathletes, and sucking on stage - sounds like a good night!!!! Here is Joe Mathlete's disturbing flyer.



Oh and while I"m plugging stuff there's a Cardboard Exhibit at Super Happy next week; You can Read more about it on Kilian's Blog.

Lastly, KTRU has its outdoor show today and for the first time ever (aside from the Dimes - who we will never stop praising) I'm just not that interested in the line-up this year. I mean it's all right, I guess, but this would be more Clinton's thing than mine. But you can follow the link if you want to see who's playing.

Back in Action.

We've wandered the desert since December after our last crappy landlord failed to pay the electric bill- our bonds as leasees broken by a plague upon his house. But lo, the build-out is nigh complete and we have crossed the river to the promised land. Yes, that is right! Next Tuesday we will have our first rehearsal in over four months. Rejoice!
============

A thing to note is that we always take a Christmas break and upon our return play about as well as elementary school kids in a garage. It usually takes us a month to get back up and running. So Since it's been nearly 5 months, you know it's going to be painful. Still, itwWill be nice to be in a a studio that doesn't have about 2 inches of pigeon shit.

Plans for the new LP are moving along. Cross your fingers; we will be looking at sending out our shit to the pressing plant sometime in July. As promised you won't see us play live until we have the LPs in our hands so, until then, we'll be hiding in the studio writing new material and drinking lots of whiskey and beer.

Behold, the amazing power of sitting on our ass!!!

In case you haven't realized the LP4 is kind of still in forced exile leaving us to sit on our asses as of late.

While we had to turn down playing a really cool off SXSW event, it may have been good as here it is already March and the new LP4 central is not even built out yet. So travelling up to Austin would have been a disaster given no rehearsals since December of 06 after the slumlord of our last studio stopped paying his electric bill forcing Steve to move his studio and our practice space.

The good thing is that during this relocation and build-out Clinton has had time to finsih vocals so when we do return to the studio some time in March we can start mixing for our upcoming release.

So, hang on kids. Well see you soon.

Boston takes the lead in Stupidest city in America!!!!

Yes, the war on Terror has reached an Orson Wells War of the Worlds like level of stupidity after a clever marketing stunt caused panic in Boston. Is it me or is the item above clearly not a bomb? I mean what terrorist setting a bomb would place it in plain sight with a blinking light to announce its location? The sad thing is that the two guys who were hired to put these things up got arrested for "a hoax" and "Disorderly conduct". Wow first off a Hoax is against the law in Boston? Secondly, doen't a hoax suggest premeditation of the result? Last and not least, shouldn't the media, officials, and the citizens of Boston be responsible for causing the hysteria?

Congratulations Boston - you are officially the biggest dumbasses in the USA.

AP
Updated: 3:34 a.m. MT Feb 1, 2007
BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were each charged Wednesday night with one count of placing a hoax device and one count of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

The two men worked together to place the devices, Coakley said in a news release announcing Stevens' arrest.

Image Bill Chuck
MSNBC article can be found here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16902707/

Recent progress

Lest the rest of my bandmates assume that I did nothing but consume a fair portion of a bottle of Weller last Wednesday at Steve's new digs, I did in fact finish vocals on a couple of songs. I think this leaves only two songs left to go, and Steve has a handful of bass parts to re-do. So it may come to pass that the LP4 will actually finish recording sometime in the next couple of weeks. Mixing the album, on the other hand, is a potentially endless task. Its only real theoretical time limit is how long it will take before Steve begins to use violence to make us stop.

The scary thing is that we have nearly two albums worth of material, which isn't that surprising given that it's been 3 years or so since our last release. What form this material will ultimately take is still up in the air.

Perhaps it will be performed live only in select venues, by diminutive mimes riding Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.

Or perhaps we will make only one copy of the CD, encase it in lead, and bury it forever deep beneath the ocean's dark waves.

Maybe we will encode it on papyrus made from the wings of fruit flies, ultimately setting it ablaze as doves are released, on the first day of the Summer Solstice?

Or maybe we'll try to put out the CD ourselves and get some U.S. distribution....nah, what am I thinking? What kind of a screwy idea is that? No one will ever hear it that way...

Maybe we will beam its digital signal into deep space using a dark matter transmitter, while Ramon drinks an entire gallon jug of buttermilk....

Plans for 2007...

Happy new year dear readers.

As you may notice after the huge amount of activity last year we are suddenly laying low. After the show on the 16th we found ourselves in a studio with no power (thanks to a cheap ass landlord) so we packed up the plantation and are moving to nicer digs. That means we haven't rehearsed in about a month and it may be another month until we get all settled in. So here is what you can expect from us in 2007:


1) Finish recording any loose ends on the new album, mix it, master it, and release the beast!

2) You won't see us at SXSW. We put zero effort into buildign any press kit for SXSW; OK, we never made one due to our getting wrapped up in the year end blow out. Then when we were offered to play an off -SXSW event one member had a conflict.

3) In fact expect no live shows until we hold the newest album in our hand.


Until the new album you can enjoy the fact that Last FM has finally got its crap together and you can now download the first 3 Linus releases for free as MP3. Sure it's MP3 quality but what the hell eh? Our contract says the rights revert back to us after 7 years so we're tossing those we can out there for you people. Who says we don't love you peeps?