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Critic's Review
Pemberton Roach, All Music Guide
James Kochalka is a talented and well-known underground cartoonist whose bizzare work has even appeared in such mainstream publications as Tower Pulse! The surprise is, he makes music that rivals, if not surpasses, the severely twisted brilliance of his drawings. This, his first album, is comprised of both lo-fi home recordings and fully produced studio tracks created between 1987 and 1995. Like all of Kochalka's work, these songs perch precariously on a fine line between completely inane third grade bathroom-style humor and utter genius. Either way, Kochalka's music is one of the most genuine expressions of the id ever recorded outside the realm of free jazz. While not completely capturing the spontaneity of his legendary live shows, The True Story of James Kochalka Superstar is alternately ridiculous and spooky. While bearing some resemblance to the avant-garde pop of Daniel Johnston, Jandek and Half-Japanese, Kochalka's more straight-ahead tunes are also reminiscent of the best work of '80s California punks, the Angry Samoans. As the jewel booklet's illustrations suggest, much of this album is thematically based on the idea of lost childhood innocence. The music here leaves no doubt that Kochalka has retained some measure of this innocence as well as the bulk of his most basic adolescent urges.
