This is curious and bookish, but charming and listenable. The new Aaron Cometbus vehicle is an interpretation of Leon Trotsky’s unfinished musical about his brief stay in New York, after being forced out of Europe and before he was killed in Mexico (suspected scenario: an ice pick through the ear). Along with Marx, Trosky was the guy who set up a lot of the fundamental theories on Communism, only to see it pan out in a way that not only horrified him, but went out of its way to silence him. This 7” begs the question: would Trotsky have written a musical that doesn’t stray far from Pinhead Gunpowder, Astrid Oto, and Green Day formulation? In my world, sure, why not? It’s better than a stuffy, overblown interpretation with too much makeup and too-tight cravats. Comes with instructional booklet.
–todd (Recess)