Care Of The Cow - 1983 - Dogs' Ears Are Stupid

Care Of The Cow

1983

Dogs' Ears Are Stupid

01. Chinese Food Part I 3:27

02. Cemetary 3:27

03. Like Me 6:54

04. Chinese Food Part II 7:08

05. Oceans In My Ears 4:51

06. Dog's Ears Are Stupid 5:20

07. Australia 3:03

08. The Sleepwalker Bites Herself In French 3:40

09. European Trains 3:39

10. No Beethoven 2:22

cd:

01. Chinese Food Part I 3:27

02. Cemetery 3:27

03. Like Me 6:54

04. Chinese Food Part II 7:08

05. Oceans In My Ears 4:51

06. Dog's Ears Are Stupid 5:20

07. Australia / The Sleepwalker Bites Herself In French 6:44

08. European Trains 3:39

09. No Beethoven 2:22

Bonus Track

10. Dancing Partners 6:06

Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Drum Machine – Victor Sanders

Vocals, Effects, Synthesizer, Clarinet, Concertina – X (Christine) Baczewska

Vocals, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer – Sher Doruff

Written-By, Arranged By, Producer – C/O The Cow

All songs written, produced and arranged by C/O The Cow ©1979 - 1986, except "Sentimental Journey" written by Bud Green, Les Brown, Ben Homer (Morley Music)

Originally released only on cassette in 1983, “Dogs’ Ears Are Stupid” by Chicago trio Care of the Cow is a fascinating blend of psychedelic folk, minimal electronics and post-punk weirdness. Acid fuzz guitar, incredible vocal harmonies, drum machines, analogue synths…

One of Chicago’s best kept secrets, Care of the Cow’s history goes back to 1974. A trio formed by Victor Sanders, X Baczewska and Sher Doruff, they had a very unique and eclectic sound, experimental yet very melodic, mixing psychedelic folk-rock with art-rock and DIY / post-punk. Their influences were very diverse: Beatles, Fripp, Eno, Joni Mitchell, Carla Bley, Pauline Oliveros, Eric Dolphy…

Care of the Cow debuted in 1975 with a 10” followed by their first LP album in 1981. By 1983, the band was adding drum machines and synths to their sound, highlighted by Victor’s amazing guitar playing and X & Sher’s perfectly blended vocal harmonies, resulting in “Dogs’ Ears Are Stupid”, the second Care of the Cow album, released only as a tiny cassette edition in 1983.

For us, this is a lost gem from the ‘80s underground which really deserved a LP/CD reissue. Here it is, done in collaboration with Steve Krakow of Plastic Crimewave / Galactic Zoo fame.

“Experimental folk-rock music into minimal synth depths. What a gem!”

-Archaic Inventions

“An absolute unique psych/folk/new music/post-punk blend. Strongly recommended to all open-minded listeners”

–Tony Coulter (WFMU)

Mental Experience presents a reissue of Care Of The Cow's Dogs' Ears Are Stupid, originally released only on cassette in 1983. The album is a fascinating blend of psychedelic folk, minimal electronics and post-punk weirdness. Acid fuzz guitar, incredible vocal harmonies, drum machines, and analogue synths make it one of Chicago's best kept secrets, with a history that goes back to 1974. A trio formed by Victor Sanders, X Baczewska, and Sher Doruff, they had a very unique and eclectic sound, experimental yet very melodic, mixing psychedelic folk-rock with art-rock and DIY/post-punk. Their influences were very diverse: The Beatles, Fripp, Eno, Joni Mitchell, Carla Bley, Pauline Oliveros, and Eric Dolphy. Care Of The Cow debuted in 1975 with a 10" followed by their first album in 1981. By 1983, the band was adding drum machines and synths to their sound, highlighted by Victor's amazing guitar playing and X and Sher's perfectly blended vocal harmonies, resulting in Dogs' Ears Are Stupid, released only as a tiny cassette edition in 1983. For the Mental Experience, this is a lost gem from the '80s underground which really deserved a reissue. Here it is, done in collaboration with Steve Krakow of Plastic Crimewave/Galactic Zoo fame. Remastered from the master tapes, includes insert with liner notes Krakow and photos.

Care Of The Cow was formed in Chicago in 1974 by Christine Baczewska, Victor Sanders, Sher Doruff and Kevin Clark. From 1974-1984 Baczewska, Sanders and Doruff produced an album “I Still Don’t Know your Style” (1981) and an album length cassette Dog’s Ears Are Stupid (1983). There are many live recordings and an promo LP from 1975.

The album I Still Don't Know Your Style captured COTC's amazing eclectic musical style. With their psychedelic folk, art-rock, strange manipulations and collages with humouristic lyrics COTC remains one of those well kept secrets from Chicago's 70's and 80's underground. Some people remember them from festivals in the mid-sevnties and some remember them from a later period in the eighties. Nevertheless their music lacks attention from listeners, since it's musically too unclassifiable for many.

COTC's even more hidden cassette Dogs' Ears Are Stupid collects some other sounds than you would expect. Apparently the band began to experiment with synthesizers and drum machines in the eighties and started to poor their experimental folk-rock music into minimal synth depths. They managed to achieve their musical warmth in a cold way. A great way only real groovy people that were active in seventies could crossover with into the eighties (Daevid Allen could be another example) What a gem! I think the track European Trains has some of the best minimal synth potential of the album, while the folk elements are still there.

Care Of The Cow ceased to exist by the mid-eighties and the members allegedly got scattered over the US and Europe. The singer Christine Baczewska released a compilation CD in 1993. Maybe someone knows more.

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