Motorsoft's "The Decline & Fall of All Y'all" is probably unlike anything you've heard recently both in sound and intent. Decline & Fall is the first release to document the fragmented existence of Rockwell Coady's Quarantine band. It's part of a story that's just begun but already promises twists and turns with its inevitable advance. And all that despite the minor fact that Rockwell Coady already lies bloated and decaying in an unknown location.

Nonetheless Motorsoft's ghostwriter and doppelganger Norman Coady soldiers ahead, willing to continue releasing as many of the unheard Motorsoft albums as he can get in order. Coady's creative devil is in the endless details that flesh out the perplexing story of New York's Quarantine. After a dirty bomb exploded on Wall Street and subsequent panics ensued, the exodus from Manhattan left the population of the island just above 100,000 residents. Motorsoft was the time's balladeer, giving musical interpretation to the curious events that occurred in Manhattan after the deluge.

 

 

The accompanying liner notes and the first installment of Coady's four volume novel "The Decline & Fall of All Y'all" flesh out the tale of Motorsoft, revealing layer by layer the complex period that produced such a scene, such a sound, such a band. The documentation is generous but dense, affording a clarifying glimpse while creating even more questions about the whole affair.

To get a taste of what it's all about, simply dive into the companion sites Million Stories and Motorsoft. They provide the illustrated back-story of Rockwell Coady, Motorsoft and the Quarantine. But that's not all, for there is a depth here that borders on the unfathomable. A whole universe exists that you can rattle about, slowly piecing together the narrative, the players and the detritus. To hear more about it from Rockwell himself, just listen to his interviews with Deborah Moss.

Musically Motorsoft created a wild ride of predecessors, veering from fresh-faced heavy metal to fey rock-and-roll theatre, uniting them as was always necessary. Intelligent and knotty lyrics both mock and honor the best of both traditions. Bubbling bass, thick chords, soaring solos, the sound meanders, builds, bursts, hushes and charges on, on to compound into a bewildering rock opera of power, chaos and the Quarantine.

The first side of the album is a collection of singles and opens with the cascade of Motorsoft's first ever song, "Hexodus", and the topical lyrics:

"You will have your disillusionment handed to you on a gold platter made of brass.

You will be standing first when of course you should have been standing last.

You will crumble into the ocean like a beautiful ruin.

But you will have at last, from your vaulted past absolution."

 

The tune descends into a sinister tweak of Bauhaus moans before a staccato interlude leads into more wails. "I Also Like the Rain" switches it up tenderly, but not for long as the guitar crunch tells of Rockwell's falling out with master engineer Rafael Allenhandre.

The band's theme song, "Motorsoftly" throws out godless, chugging guitars and a darkly maddening chant that leads relentlessly into a double thumping crescendo of self-declaration. If this isn't the end of history, it will be coming soon. But first a bit of Rockwell's solo past is revealed with "Mastered", a Lou Reed-esque bombast fest of charging lyrics and charging guitars.

The second side of the album is the incomplete Lust for Strife Song Cycle, detailing the Quarantine's "Great Lull" when residents thought the continent would invade at any moment. "Lenape Lullaby" is a breather, lapping away melodically. "Lust for Strife" mockingly calls for the riot to end it all, hooking the crowd with a sing-along chorus before "Unbridled's" thick riff reports on the damage done. The song stumbles over itself pulsing with the onslaught and the aural excess, pounding, pushing and punishing. And finally "Follow Me Down" is the eulogy for the scene, a fitting farewell for the band--majestic and mournful.

If it's all a bit to get your head around, don't worry. The album stands alone as an intriguing slice of musical influences, originality and most importantly enjoyment of excess. Its catchy constructions cast you on a roller coaster of hard hitting, head shaking sturm and drang. And close attention and repeated listens deepen the pleasure and understanding, revealing a shining wit in poetic lyrics and compositional dynamic. If there is anything to be wished from further Motorsoft releases, it's only that other found recordings will present even clearer production. But for the first from the vaults, this one rocks.

Motorsoft is, was Rockwell Coady on guitars, organs and vocals, Marike Damhuis on vocals, Danny W. Leo on drums and vocals, Gibb Slife on bass and Marnie Stern on guitar.

But it is Norman Coady who has assembled all the music, written the novel and designed the web sites, filling them with vibrant pageantry and endless mutations. A whirlwind in a bottle of Brooklyn, Coady creates performance art with literary backing, arts and crafts and graphic design. He tells of the exhilaration and exhaustion of life in the city verses the ennui of the pastoral prairies and plains of the continent. Pay attention, 'cause with a tale of these epic proportions, you don't want to be on the outside too long, you may miss the shit storm when it kicks in. To find out more and purchase the album, visit www.motorsoft.org.