A Ten O'Clock Scholar - Quietest

Quietest was the one and only album from the Dayton, Ohio band A Ten O’Clock Scholar. Released in 1996 through the Grass Records label, this little gem of a record probably graces many cut out bins across the country these days. That seemed to be the fate for many bands that were on Grass before they eventually (and unfortunately) mutated into Wind-Up records. Regardless, before that there was plenty to love about their roster, including A Ten O’Clock even if they were fairly short lived. For those that haven’t heard this and are fans of a noisy and loosely arranged indie-rock, then this is definitely something that you may want to check out. It’s kind of funny though, as I was digging around trying to see what happened to these guys I took at their AMG page and some of the listings under “similar artists” were so incredibly misleading. For the record, these guys sound nothing like Gravity Kills or Orgy. Seriously, who came up with those? Plus, I would never subject any the readers out there to anything similar to those bands. You can count on that.

But anyway, A Ten O’Clock Scholar could probably be better described as Pavement if they had become fascinated by 80’s no wave. Quietest contains quite a bit of dissonant guitar playing and it rides strongly on that. It’s not so indigestible in that it will only appeal to a small select few people; however it’s harsh and unsettling enough to scare away a fair amount. It’s one messy sounding record that prides itself on being just that.

A Ten O’Clock Scholar – Hooded Figure at the Foot of My Bed [MP3]
A Ten O’Clock Scholar – Excellence in Safety [MP3]
A Ten O’Clock Scholar – Infant [MP3]

Some of the members went on to spend time in Ohio Casket and Lab Partners. I am not so sure what any of these guys are up to these days however. Regardless, definitely pick up Quietest over at Amazon if the tunes above are of any interest. There are million used copies up on there for basically nothing, so definitely check it out.