Dutch Masters (2003-2010) were Eric Oblivian (Oblivians, Bad Times), Scott Rogers (Jenny Jeans, Perfect Fits), Talbot Adams (Royal Pendletons, Jenny Jeans, Black and Whites) and Punk Rock Pat. The Memphis, TN/Oxford, MS, group released a single on Goner Records in 2004. All In The Wires is a collection of the unreleased recordings The Dutch Masters completed for the Goner single, plus a couple of live tracks. The "studio tracks" were recorded by Jack Oblivian at the Goner Record store on an analog 4-track machine. All In The Wires contains a live version of "Fire Detector," which appeared years later on The Oblivians album, Desperation.

            During their seven-year run, The Dutch Masters played with Dead Moon at the Chicago Black Out and GonerFest. They also released a track, "8 Ball Deluxe," on a Multiball Magazine compilation. All In The Wires was pressed on black vinyl and is limited to 500 copies.  

I LOVED the Dutch Masters 7" on release (#5 on the Top Ten Singles of 2005, plus artwork of the year award...), thought they were fantastic live at The Blackout and couldn't be more stoked on this LP right now obviously. I had no idea they hung around for seven years (2003-2010 according to the bio), but it's not as if these guys were busy with other stuff - I hesitate to call the band a side project, but I wouldn't call them full time either. Eric Oblivian, Talbot Adams, Scott Rogers and a man known as Punk Rock Pat is a rather formidable line-up with some decent credentials. I was fearful that this LP might be packed with not-ready-for-primetime demos and live stuff, but much like the AAAA New Memphis Legs LP (another kind-of-a-side-project band, or at least a band that had a brief lifespan), it's almost criminal that some of this material wasn't released while the band was active. Many people will be happy to hear that this is heavy on Friedl material (9 out 14 tracks are his), which includes two of the songs from the 7" (which had three killers on it for the record, along with the Rogers-penned "Radioactive"), "Submarine Captain" which is a real tough cut of garage meat (where this LP also cribs its title from), a fantastic punker called "Ain't No Saint", "8 Ball Deluxe" (from a Multiball comp), and a live version of "Fire Detector" (which became an Oblivians song) which is a medley with "First Time" (the best cover of this song since The Fingers did it), and another live cut called "Back at the Bucc" which is entertaingly dumb (and I swear ended up somewhere else...). Scott Rogers contributes some rockers as well, with "I Want Your Name, I Want Your Number" being one of the best here, a really ballsy stomper with some dangerous guitar sounds/solos and maracas(!), they do a hot cover of "Doin' It Too Hard" (not quite as boiling as the New Memphis Legs version, but still pretty firey) and in another of my favorite moments on the LP, a raw version of Talbot Adams' "Multiple Girls", which later became a Black & Whites tune. All the "studio" stuff here was recorded on 4 track by none other than Jackie O, and the two live cuts are quality Rocket Science Audio jobs. An excellent, excellent record that I should have expected to be this good. Scum stats: 500 copies.
--RK, Terminal Boredom