Gravy by flea trap

"The first time I encountered Flea Trap was at a Sunday night show at New York Pizza in 2019. I had never heard of them before, and had actually gone to see a friend of mine perform that night. After the first two bands finished their sets and I had enough time to eat two slices of cheap pizza and drink an irresponsible amount of PBR, I was ready to head home. It was a Sunday night, after all. I am so glad I didn’t, because nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.
The lead singer/guitarist sat in their guitar case for the entire show and rhythmically swayed their head side to side. The bass player had an extended cable and played a portion of the show from the sidewalk and street outside of the venue. At one point towards the end of the show, the band handed the microphone to a possibly unrelated woman in the crowd and let her belt like Janis Joplin over their instrumental groove.

The band played with a ferocity that skirted the edges of jazz, AMREP noise rock, and psychedelia. My friend and I kept turning to each other throughout the performance and exclaiming, “HOLY SHIT, Do you see what they are doing now!!” Out of the 100+ live shows I’ve seen throughout the years I have never been so enthralled and excited by a band I had stumbled into unaware of who they were. I don’t think there could have been more than 15 people in attendance for this set, but everyone who skirted out early that Sunday night really missed out.

Gravy, the band's first recorded output, is an incredibly dense record from cover to cover. All of the psychedelic weirdness you expect from their live show is on full display here. In fact, the band performs the impossible and records an album that is just as cathartic as they are live. For fans of the work of Boredoms, free jazz, and Zappa-like guitar wankery. Mind-boggling music and one of the most insane sonic outbursts I heard in 2020. Needs to be heard to be believed."

- Connor (Old Lung, Callous Quartz)


Recorded 12/10/2019*

Part I
1. Fuck (0:00)
2. Handed (0:58)
3. 1982 280 ZX (1:18)
4. Breaths (1:41)
5. Road Soda (2:29)
6. I'm Coming (3:59)
7. What Is Fun? (5:27)

8. First Blood (Improvisational)

Part II
9. Wolf Plug (For Ass) (0:00)
10. Bozart Style (0:52)
11. Game Over (3:06)

*except track 8, recorded 12/9

GOTTA BE NC