The Linus Pauling Quartet
Houston, Texas, United States | Established. Jan 01, 1994 | INDIE
Music
Press
" Wow... there are few similarities between the latest Linus Pauling Quartet album and their previous effort, the 2000 release, Ashes In The Bong Of God. Whereas that album was a free-wheeling, tripped out, playful quest for the bong, the new C6H8O6 to a large extent dispenses with the freeform improvisational feel for structure, songs, and some of the most crushing ROCK of the year... In summary, this is a monstrous set of spaced out metal and ultra heavy psychedelia that will appeal to anyone who likes.... well... spaced out metal and ultra heavy psychedelia. It covers lots of territory, combining varied elements but into a completely coherent whole. Highest recommendation." - Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
Review of C6H806 - Aural Innovations
"You enter the LP4's world at your peril -- you get sucked into a vortex of muddled and at times brilliant chaos." - John Nova Lomax, Houston Press - Houston Press
"Not surprisingly for a product of the same hometown as the Red Krayola and Rusted Shut, Houston's Linus Pauling Quartet is equal parts demented and lovable. A sevenpiece with several guests, the Quartet specializes in waves of psychedelic slog thicker than humidity coming off Buffalo Bayou in August. At the same time, C6H8O6 doesn't abandon humor or melody in its overwhelming sonic onslaught...Like Slater says in Dazed and Confused, "You couldn't handle that shit on strong acid, man." On second thought, maybe that's the only way you could." - Christopher Gray, Austin Chronicle - Austin Chronicle
"A quartet of Texas weirdos who're smart enough to play it real stupid, mining that fine line between drug-induced idiocy and conceptual genius for way more than you might've thought it was worth."
-- Kevin Moist, Deep Water. - Deep Water
" [the band] should consider doing a few less bonghits"
--Michael Davis of Option Magazine - Option Magazine
"Variety through dementia indicative of excessive drug use and boredom."
-- Flipside - Flipside
"I don't know what kind of drugs they've put in the Texas water supply, but I hope they keep doing it, because now we have these mutant sons of Yeti."
--Factsheet 5 - Factsheet 5
"A sensory-agitation session worth losing a few hundred brain cells over."
--Dave Segal, Alternative Press - Alternative Press
"a core point about the Linus Pauling Quartet isn't merely that they're a great psych band, but a great band period, able to embrace a lot of styles and moods and work them well. " - Ned Raggett, Allmusic.com - All Music
"...possibly the most enigmatic yet bombastic rock band to emerge out of Texas inthe last 10 years."
--Mats Gustafsson & Lee Jackson - The Broken Face(Sweden)
"As so many times before with these nutty kids, there exists an extremely fine line between genius and stupidity, but in my world there's not really any question which side of the fence these space rockers fall on. "
Mats Gustafsson - The Broken Face(Sweden)
Review for Ashes In The Bong of God - The Broken Face
"Houston heroes...return with a killer set that encompasses 10-minute space-jam explosions, hard rock punk boogie and sax-damaged neo-no wave"
--Fred Mills - Magnet(US)
Review for Killing You With Rock
"... a 2,500-microdot dose of conceptual zig-zaggery so daunting that Roger Dean would get a hernia trying to sketch the album sleeve. Imagine Captain Beefheart's magic Band "reworking" Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother right on the cusp of the Rapture. " --Fred Mills - Magnet(US)
Review for Ashes In The Bong Of God - Magnet
"Compulsory listening for anyone interested in modern American guitar rock, or just plain alternative music."
--Crohinga Well (Belgium)
"If twisted, heavily distorted guitar psyche is your thing then the LP4 is your band and "Killing you..." is nirvana!""
-- Crohinga Well (Belgium)
Killing You With Rock Review - Crohinga Well
"The leap forward with respect to their already excellent second work is stunning; if they keep on growing at this pace, sooner or later the energy released by the Pauling effect will really kill us."
--Enrico Ramunni - Rockerilla (Italia)
Review for "Killing You With Rock" - Rockerilla
"A large red sticker proclaiming WEIRD ALERT could not make things plainer."
--Stuart Maconie Q Magazine(UK)
- Q Magazine
"Gesang, der die platte so weit ins selbstironische zieht, dab man sie nicht mehr wirklich ernst nehmen kann."
-- Gregor Kessler, Hayfever (Germany)
[actually we can't read German so we have no idea what this says]
- Hayfever
"Anthemic, stupid and selflessly unrestrained, the LPQ eventually attain self immolation of sorts during the sprawling chaos."
-- Phil Mc Mullen, Ptolemaic Terrascope (UK) - Ptolemaic Terrascope
"Perpetually and gleefully weird" - The Obelisk
Discography
Immortal Chinese Classics (Worship Guitars, CD, USA, 1995)
Untitled (Alien LP) (September Gurls, LP, Germany, 1997)
Killing You With Rock (September Gurls, CD Germany, 1998)
VA - Succour (Ptolemaic Terrascope, 2X CD, UK, 1995) (Reissued by Flydaddy, USA 1996)
LP4/Kryptasthesie (Mizmaze, 7", Italy, 1999)
VA - Thou Shalt Expand Your Mind (Ptolemaic Terrascope, CD, UK, 1999)
Ashes in the Bong of God (Fleece,CD, USA, 2000)
Ashes in the Bong of God (September Gurls, 2x LP, Germany, 2000)
VA - The Vegetable Man Project (Oggetti Volanti Non Identificati, CD, Italy, 2002)
C6H8O6 (September Gurls, CD, Germany, 2003)
Songs Of The Cretaceous (Shifty Pope, CD, USA, 2005)
All Things Are Light (Camera Obscura, LP, Australia, 2007)
HAWG! - Grey Ghost#48 (Grey Ghost, CD, USA, 2007)
LP4/ST37 (No Label, 7", USA, 2010)
Horns Of Ammon (Homeskool Records, CD, USA 2010)
Bag of Hammers (Homeskool Records, CD, USA 2012)
V/A - For Lee Jackson In Space (Digital Only, Bandcamp, 2012)
Assault on the Vault of the Ancient Bonglords (Homeskool, 3X CD/Module, USA, 2013)
Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (Homeskool, 7″ EP, USA, 2013)
V/A - Running Up That Hill: Kate Bush Covers for Reproductive Rights (Digital Only, Bush League / Bandcamp, 2014)
Knights In Satan’s Service(Artificial Head, 12″ LP + 7″, USA, 2014)
C is for Cthulhu (Homeskool, 7″, USA, 2014)
Planck (digital, USA, 2015)
Ampalanche (Vincebus Eruptum, LP, Italy 2016)
Photos
Bio
“a core point about the Linus Pauling Quartet isn’t merely that they’re a great psych band, but a great band period, able to embrace a lot of styles and moods and work them well.” 4/5 stars – Ned Raggett, All Music
The Linus Pauling Quartet has been carrying the Texas Psych torch since the Mid-90’s. Following in the footsteps of cult favorites Mike Gunn & Dry Nod, this seven member “quartet” has been praised in the pages of Ptolemaic Terrascope (UK), Rockerrilla (Italy), Magnet (USA), and the Broken Face (Sweden), to name a few.
Though often categorized as Texas Psych, the band has been known to dabble in various genres such as Garage rock, Stoner rock, Punk rock, and Heavy Metal. The band has appeared Terrastocks IV and VII as well as having performed at four official South by Southwest showcases (2004, 2005, 2008 and 2013).
The band has released 9 Albums, a 3-CD anthology, multiple 7"s, appeared on various anthologies, released a gaming module, and even released a single written expressly for the release of a biography of Max Planck on Oxford University Press. They are also known for producing their own DIY videos usually involving stop motion, puppets, and a lot of drunken buffoonery. Their newest album, Ampalanche, was released on 15 January 2016 on Italy's Vincebus Eruptum Records.
Band Members
Links
