In a note that accompanied his CD, John Welsh wrote, "I love playing the guitar in a traditional fashion; however, lately I'm investigating the endless possibilities of creating sound with found objects." On this far-from-traditional release, Welsh produces one bizarre noise after another. However, because guitar is the only instrument listed, it remains a mystery how he concocted the nails-on-blackboard screech of the mercifully short "Eye Putty Explosive," the choking-animal wail of "Esophagus Pearl," or the panting dogs, howling dogs, terrified screams, and sirens that listeners might detect in the aural Rorschach test "No Longer Human." Like Mark Reynolds, another local musician who recently released an avant-garde instrumental album, Welsh specializes in uneasy listening, as exemplified by "Fly Thought," which mixes an increasingly loud buzzing effect with grating, saw-stimulating guitar. Melodic plinking occurs briefly on a few tracks, and several of the tunes are wrapped up with tidy endings, suggesting that these are compositions and not just random sound collages. Welsh's songs are unhummable (and some might say unlistenable), but for those who like to keep in touch with underground artists who play by their own rules, Scrupulocity Brow offers an experimental edge.
