Metroland
Volume 26 - Number 12 - March 20, 2003

EDO : Alien Death Taxi (Permanent Records)

This 2002 release is getting close to being too long in the tooth to be reviewed in these timely, topical pages—but it’s too good of a record to let it be the one that got away from us. It also helps that EDO have deep roots in the Capital Region: Vocalist Eliot Duhan is a Chatham native, and primordial versions of EDO did their thing with verve, vigor and frightening regularity at the Palais Royale in Albany (among other local venues) back in the early ’90s.

These days, EDO are a Philadelphia-based live monster who mine a musical vein somewhere between the Captain Beefheart and Roky Erickson lodes, scary-funny-cerebral lyrics bouncing off of mutant blooze, creating sparks and smoke and screaming in the process. Duhan is a classic over-the-top shouter who mixes things up on this, the group’s second full-length CD, with cool spoken-word rants about all sorts of exciting topics: corneal grafts, ice ages, pedophile priests, herb jones(ing), pets on drugs, scary suburbs and the titular alien death taxi.

Duhan has his own Zoot Horn Rollo/Rockette Morton string-bending axis, too, with Pete “the Fishman” Wilder (guitar) and John Thomas (bass) making some exceptional jazz-rock-blues based noises; Andy “Screech” McConnell rounds out the record with punchy drums and the occasional foray into guitar and keyboard world. Their instrumental prowess is a key part of what makes this record so successful: Duhan’s diatribes would sound good on top of most anything, but they come off phenomenally well when chained to such a muscular musical beast as the one created by his bandmates.

All told, a great record to get mugged by in a dark alley behind Frank Zappa’s house, while Ween snort glue, giggle and point.

—J. Eric Smith

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Raging Smolder Music Review #4

EDO: Wrinkles
Who/What is/are EDO? According to the band's press info: "EDO is the wedding of Magic and Primitive technology. Loud, fierce, strange and more than a bit alarming, EDO dissolves the boundaries separating band from audience ending up with a 300 headed organism that is very happy. No one walks away from an EDO show bored. In fact, a whole lot of people don't even bother walking away. " Raging Smolder faves EDO have released their first CD, entitled Wrinkles, which contains a fine display of the band's natural zaniness. On this recording, founder and guru Eliot Duhan, tells us about "Bob's Fabulous Teeth," "Alex's Pee-Pee," and "Lloyd's Ugly Head." Wrinkles is a set of Duhan-generated parables -- skewed insightful tales of life and (sub) culture. Plus: EDO claims to be "the strangest, most fabulous, most daring, most exciting band, most modest band in America!" Anyway, Wrinkles is a pretty amazing mixture of funk, psychedelia, and jazz. Oh yeah, and it really rocks!

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Philadelphia City Paper

March 6–13, 1997 Critics Pick

Ida/EDO

Sure the name Ida conjures up images of a kindly grandmother, but the New York band has a smoky coffeehouse feel fortified by simmering acoustic guitar, moody keyboards and wistful harmonies. If you think that might be a downer, Ida's pensive tunes will undoubtedly be offset by EDO's giddiness. Their lyrics shine with unashamed sophomoric glee and the music, which occasionally turns into hypermelodic math rock, is played with orchestrated abandon by highly accomplished instrumentalists. And if those two bands aren't reason enough to get you out, go because the show benefits a worthy cause — the Hematology unit of Philadelphia Children's Hospital.

— Neil Gladstone

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Raging Smolder Music Review #1

EDO: _Waltzing With the Dogs

Waltzing With The Dogs (or francis bishop is surrounded by pointy egg things) is the hilarious first album by EDO. At the time of this recording, EDO was comprised of Elliot Duhan (self-proclaimed leader) on vocals, Rockin' Marshall McMillan on electric guitars and bass guitar, and Yanni Papadopoulos on acoustic guitars and bass guitar with various combinations of people responsible for songwriting and Les Lentz sitting in on drums. _Waltzing With The Dogs_ is a combination of acoustic and electric elements simmered in a folk/rock format and similar in tone to Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades." The band's songwriting influences are glaringly obvious, but their sparkling wit and cleverness prevent this point from becoming a distraction. EDO possesses Bob Dylan's soul (the touching and poignant "Ballad of Bobby and Jenny"), DEVO's wackiness ("Big Surprise," "Benno Knows A Secret"), and Jonathan Richman's sentimental silliness ("Big Pizza," "Good Thing"). This last song is sappy but not schmaltzy -- just the right thing to help mend a broken heart. Zappa-esque flourishes litter this album along with ten-second snippets of "Let's Go Fast and Stop" a 1950's rock'n'roll parody. "The Rocking Smell Song" seems to be pure absurdity, but actually contains deep philosophical significance: we out to pay more attention to each other and try to better understand ourselves and our world. The title track is reminiscent of an old English drinking song and the best line on the tape is found in "Raspberry Girl": "I need love in an easier format." Don't we all? Runner-up is the lyric from "Ice Cream Shimmy": "She wants ice cream; I want her. Some kind of arrangement can be arranged." Funny funny stuff. EDO somehow manages to steal from numerous notable sources and recombine the ingredients to create a nifty blend of sarcasm and sincerity. _Waltzing With The Dogs_ is delightful (there, I said it) and definitely worth owning. Listen to it over and over and over. It's great fun!

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An Oculus Magazine review of Our New Single [7 inch] by EDO

EDO, Our New Single (Blue Lunch)

A fun and imaginative outing by this talented bar rock band. The first cut, "You're So Thin," is a tale about a shallow woman, recorded with two sets of vocals (the main one being the "loose" stylings of Eliot Duhan, the second (electronically enhanced), giving the song a bizarre baroque feel. With good band backup to speed the music along, Edo takes a common song premise and gives it a new perspective. Always a nice thing. The second cut is a loose cover of the classic C.W. McCall trucker song, "Convoy" (You remember, "C'mon Rubber Duck, what's yer 10-4?"). Interesting choice for a cover, but somewhat superfluous. I would have liked to hear another of their original numbers, since what I heard was different and impressive. Half recommended, and on red vinyl.

-Robert Barry Francos
March 1995