Fat, Hit (side A)

The combination of a heavy rock instrumental palette with traditional compositional technique was a common idiom in New York in the 80s.  Prominent practitioners of this idiom, including Elliot Sharp and the members of Borbetomagus, make contributions to Fat's 1989 album Hit.  While Fat are one of the less-remembered acts working in the style, their music is as well-executed in the idiom as their more well-known peers.  Fat utilized a traditional rock power trio line-up, with Eric Rosenzveig's electric guitar providing the foreground melodic content.  As was typical in this idiom, despite the electric instrumentation, the rhythm section played with the precision typically found in classical and orchestral music, rather than the swing or groove traditionally associated with rock music.  Funnily, both rhythm players are also credited on the cover with "delay" in addition to their instruments, but Rosenzveig is only credited with guitar.  Fat's songs focused on the exploration of an idea, with a timbral and harmonic approach defining their space — there's rarely signs of linear evolution within a piece.  While Hit was recorded in an expensive studio, the final album sounds somewhat primitive and lo-fi.  While the music can transcend the idiom of its era, the primitive cover design feels more trapped in the past.