In the second entry in MBV's trip through Merge history, we look at Raleigh's Angels of Epistemology. The Angels of Epistemology were an essential, seminal presence in the NC Triangle scene of the 1980s. In fact, the Wikipedia entry for "Music of North Carolina" cites the Angels as "leading (emphasis mine) the new wave of Chapel Hill rock that came of age in the '80s." Formed in Raleigh around 1985 or '86 by engineering student, philosopher and rocker Jeb Bishop, the Angels of Epistemology counted a diverse selection of players among their ranks during their 4-5 year lifespan. “Epistemology” is “the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. The investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.”This sort of loose, flexible attitude seems to have been characteristic of the band, who had a reputation for a carefree, laid-back approach to all things. It's definitely a vibe that comes through in many of the recordings ("Tune the guitars? Learn to play the drums? Hell with that-- let's just PLAY)." Of course, you can't pull off an attitude like that with heart alone; you've gotta be able to back it up with talent. Luckily, the Angels apparently had no shortage of heart or talent-- though, granted, the balance of the two must've swayed substantially from lineup to lineup. There's a copy of this available at GEMM right now → Surprisingly, the band never actually put out anything during their active '80s years; The band's recordings first appeared in 1987, on a now-revered 7-inch boxset featuring 5 Triangle bands. The set was called "Evil I Do Not To Nod I Live," and included records from the Angels, Jeb Bishop's other band Egg, Black Girls, and 2 of Mac's bands, Wwax and Slushpuppies, all in an "elaborately packaged" hand-crafted box. Merge later released a new Angels 7" in 1990 (MRG006), and collected virtually all of their extant recordings in 1992's Fruit compilation.
MRG031The Angels of Epistemology - FruitThe Angels of Epistemology - “Bring Us Down” Just 5 seconds into "Bring Us Down," it should hit you that the Angels of Epistomology were adepts at that big, beautiful, noisy, sloppy mess of sound that characterized so much important indie rock of the '85-'95 period (it's the sound Pavement took to its peak of perfection in '92). "Bring Us Down" lays out a solid, noisy background rhythm, but there's also an relentless streak of loose fretboard noodling right there on top. Talk about "Slack Motherfucker," sheesh... you can practically see the slack-jawed slacker up there on stage, fingers dancing languidly up and down the fretboard, strings so slack they're hanging down to his slacks. And although in most of the Angels' songs, I find Jeb Bishop's vocal delivery to be sort of Jello Biafra-y (check out "He's Back"), he's almost into Fred Schneider territory on this one. Jeb Bishop & Sarah Bell, Toronto, 1988 (via) But the Angels weren't solely slack indie purveyors. The revolving membership included some damn accomplished musicians, and ones with pretty diverse influences. One biographical entry I came across noted that it wasn't out-of-the-ordinary for the band to bust out quasi-exotic instruments like zithers or balalaikas. This side of the Angels of Epistemology seems to have manifested itself primarily in eclectic instrumental pieces, like the enjoyable mando ditty, "Angels Death Song," the crazed mishmash, "Carmen Miranda, At Least," and this one, the insane Deliverance acid trip, "Astrud Is Groovy, Kill The Pigs:" The Angels of Epistemology - "Astrud Is Groovy, Kill The Pigs"
I can't say I was ever really familiar with the Angels of Epistemology back in the day. They were one of those bands whose name I'd often hear mentioned, but one who, for one reason or another, I just never followed up on. But here we are now, 25 years on, and I'm only just now, finally, hearing them for the first time. Hell, you probably are too. Better late than never, I say.

Buy Angels of Epistemology - Fruits at Merge Digital

(Our friends at Merge have set up Fruits as a specially-priced $4.99 download for the next two weeks.)

- Ryan Catbird