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who/what are moth wranglers?

may 1, 2001

so - who/what are moth wranglers? good question. for now, let's just say it's the collaborative recording project created by san franciscan chris xefos (ex-king missile) and new yorker ld beghtol (frontman of nyc chamberpop ensemble, flare, and guest vocalist on the magnetic fields' fab "69 love songs").

dubbed a “dangerous indie-pop vaudeville troupe” by one pundit, moth wranglers was formed in 1998 to confound expectations and use up a cache of frequent flyer miles. working with a revolving crew of guest musicians, the transcontinental duo writes and records music separately — long distance, via tapes through the mail — and together in various studios in nyc, seattle, san francisco, la and boston. mothmusic draws on everything from gospel, victorian parlour songs, classic 60s pop, 70s rock and 80s new wave to classical art songs and serialism for inspiration. the sound is something akin to omd covering the carter family — or vice versa. beghtol and xefos share vocal duties, and play everything from ukuleles and guitars to accordions, marxophones, vintage keyboards, autoharps, xylophones and aqualins to whatever else they can lay their hands on…

moth wranglers’ debut single took the form of seven inches of vinyl fun. do-si-do and all that… it stars a skewed country-swing tune, “turnabout,” as it’s a-side, which pits beghtol’s best baroque hoe-down yodel against xefos’ jangly acoustic guitar and last-gasp accordion; it’s rounded out by extraterrestrial jordanaires-styled backing vocals and handclaps. guests wranglers on this track are victor krummenacher and jonathan segel (camper van beethoven) on upright bass and fiddle. for the b-side, “new mission terrace #47,” xefos intones a text collaged to a wayward friend over an ambient bed of pulsing, oceanic keyboards (courtesy of alison faith levy, the loud family), backwards strings and throbbing blues harp.

moth wranglers first full-length cd, never mind the context, will be released by Magnetic in spring, 2001. expect about a dozen songs in as many genres: sing-along schizophrenic piano ballads, more country-tinged sorrow, bright ’n’ bouncy pop, a bit of rock (who said that?) and lots of experimental fun. guest stars include members of camper van beethoven, the magnetic fields, the klezmatics, sparklehorse and thousands more. no turn will go unstoned. moth wranglers have performed live — with the aid of backing tapes, single-malt scotch, floral tributes, a vintage mac 150 powerbook, silent prayers and a small pink leather pig named eleanor — in new york and san francisco to slightly bewildered and mildly enthusiastic audiences. future shows are planned for seattle, chicago, duluth and memphis. or anywhere they have friends with spare equipment.

this just in: moth wranglers will soon be appearing within the pages of BRIDGE 3 — a fine new arts & literary journal out of chicago. due out late august or thereabouts, this publication will include a CD which of music and spoken-word stuff by luminaries such as john barth, (author of “the sot-weed factor” and other amazing works of fiction) and moth wranglers own new 44-second song, “pledge.”