With a discography dating back to the DIY days when bands recorded their albums on cassette tapes with four-track recorders, Paul Kopasz has released in the neighborhood of 50 albums. His co-conspirators have included members of Wilco, Die Kreuzen, NRBQ, Eleventh Dream Day, the Velvet Underground’s Moe Tuckers and one-time Milwaukeean John Kruth. With albums released by both domestic and European labels, Kopasz saw the writing on the wall more than a decade ago and sought refuge in his own label, recording and releasing music under his own rules. It has worked well.
The compilations Res Ipsa Loquitor and Curriculum Vitae serve as introductions to Kopasz’s towering discography offering various points of entry. “Manna,” “Sacred Mud” and “The Judge (on Judgment Day)” serve up gospel influences moving from downtempo folk to Bo Diddley rave-up.
“My Knife” reimagines King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, as gangland weapon. “David Ruffin’s Tears” presents a Detroit (Kopasz’s hometown) history lesson in three-and-a-half minutes. A pair of songs from 1998’s concept album A Wilderness of Mirrors hints at that album’s mindfuck storyline of a national guardsman called out to a crash site in Roswell, N.M., and the spiraling trials he and his wife endure.
Musically, Kopasz effortlessly moves from plaintive acoustic ballads to greasy, wah-wah pedal rockers. “Dear Dutch” and “Robespierre” employ history lessons, while “Stone in My Shoe” is a charging rock ’n’ roll update of the myth of Sisyphus. “Ashley’s Blues,” “Sparrow” and “Good Little Girl” from 2017’s Killer Elite album are among the finest of his evolving career.
