DESCRIPTION:
from the album
Take The Green Over Red
[2001]

"Prairie Dog Flesh have been playing shows for a number of years around Philadelphia, and are a somewhat mysterious side project of Bardo Pond. The band started as a permutation of Bardo Pond with their "old" drummer, Joe Culver, and "new" drummer, Ed Farnsworth. Resembling the earlier, dirty, unkempt, and sloppy days of Bardo Pond, they blur the line between "side project" and "main project." The main glaring difference is that the Prairie Dog Flesh's voice is that of bassist, Clint Takeda. The Prairie Dog Flesh have now stepped out and released something for those of us who haven't been lucky enough to see them live.

The band was described by Joe Culver as something they would do while fooling around on Friday nights, an informal, loosely-formed outlet. Originally it was done while Isobel was away at work, but she eventually began joining in as well. So, it comes as no surprise that the collection of songs that make up Take the Green over the Red sound quite a bit like Bardo Pond. "The Winged Dog" starts with a two note delayed guitar line, panning slowly across the speakers while Clint talks over the repetitious fuzz. Drums pulse only in the deep recesses of the mix. The distorted blues chord riff of "Vampire Squid" combined with the simple vocal line are probably the closest the Bardo's will get to sounding like they're a pop band from Olympia, Washington. The delicate last track, "Donovan Out," is played with a single acoustic guitar and accented by quiet bongos, both accompanying hushed vocals.

Where Bardo Pond seem to have a specific place they intend to take the listener, Prairie Dog Flesh are more free form, less specific. Their songs wander a bit more and follow tangents a little more frequently. Prairie Dog Flesh (Bardo Pond) have spent enough time habiting this musical terrain that they have no trouble finding a spot in your head and making plenty room for their music."
[Dick Baldwin - fakejazz.com]