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welcome back to another episode of “rottie infodumps about music he likes, and you’re forced to listen”! i always wanted to make something like this, where I just go off on a tangent about whatever album is bubbling in the deepest crevices of my brain…so i think I’ll try to make these blogs every so often! if i don’t let the autism beasts run around free once and a while, they start to get hot under the collar and I fear they may eat me alive one day, so this is mostly for my own sanity. i hope you can at least learn something new, though.
Logan Whitehurst & the Jr. Science Club — Goodbye, My 4-Track
Logan Whitehurst & the Jr. Science Club — Goodbye, My 4-Track
Length: 1 hour, 1 min.
Release date: November 4th, 2003
Genre: Geek rock/experimental rock
Favorite track: The Volcano Song
Fun fact: Logan got the inspiration for the track “Monkeys Are Bad People” from his roommate, who was shooting a giant monkey in a video game.
I’m super excited to talk about this album. Not just because I’ve been hyperfixated on Logan’s music for the past few months, but it’s also just one hell of a musical experience.
I discovered this album on September 23rd, 2022 from an Instagram story one of my friends made. I don’t always click with music right away—usually, for me to get really into an artist, it takes me a while to warm up to them—but I instantly fell in love with Logan’s music. Goodbye My 4-Track is a delightfully genre-bending; equal-parts-silly-and-thoughtful adventure of an album that kept me on the edge of my seat at every turn. His songwriting is reminiscent of experimental rock bands like They Might Be Giants and The Aquabats, as well as some of Neil Cicierega’s older works; which are all artists I adore, so how I stumbled across an album practically fine-tuned to my specific tastes is a miracle I couldn’t be more grateful for. GBM4T has songs about everything from volcanoes, to snowmen, to noodles that fight each other, to robot cats, to werewolves, to living on the moon, to brains, and everything in between. If you like music that captivates you with catchy tunes and clever storytelling, then I highly recommend Logan’s work to you.
A one-man, one-snowman band
Let’s talk about the president of the Jr. Science Club himself, the wizard behind Goodbye My 4-Track’s mellow psychedelia…Logan Whitehurst!
Although Logan is best known for his musical endeavors, he was definitely a multi-talented individual. Until its disbanding in 2000, he was the drummer for the band Little Tin Frog, as well as one of the founding members of The Velvet Teen. He was also a talented artist and graphic designer; creating multiple album covers and art for the bands he was involved in. He went on to produce solo work under the name “Logan Whitehurst and the Jr. Science Club”, which ran until his passing in 2006.
Through thick and thin, you could always find Logan with his beloved bandmate, Vanilla—a plastic lawn snowman sporting a spiffy red nose and an even spiffier grin. Vanilla was a sort of unofficial mascot of the Jr. Science Club, and was featured onstage at every live performance. Wherever there’s Vanilla, there’s the Jr. Science Club!
Logan passed away after a long battle with brain cancer at 29, a few years after Goodbye My 4-Track was released. But his influence didn’t die there: in his place, he left behind a musical legacy that’s still alive and well more than 17 years later. The Logan Whitehurst Memorial Award for Excellence in Comedy Music—often shortened to just the Logan Whitehurst Award—celebrates Logan’s life and contributions to the zany world of musical humor. There’s even a documentary being produced about his music, art, and general life…it’s not out yet at the time this is being written, but if you’d like to follow along, the producers provide updates on the page’s kickstarter!
Here are some other links where you can check out Logan’s stuff:
Rest in peace, Logan..
Comments
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Alveus Nosville
It's a very nicely written post, and it does a good job of promoting the album and artist, even if I can't make up my mind about them myself yet.
I'd like to mention the visual style though, a few lines of text are invisible and since I went with something very similar, here are the missing lines to make them work the way I did:
#kudos{font-family:'Lucida Console'; color:green;}.heading{color:green}I use the same style for both posts and profile so if you want anything more you don't even need to visit my blog.
That’s really helpful, thank you!!! :]
by rottie; ; Report
Katie
A wonderfully written article. I always enjoy learning about different musicians and the mark their work made on the world. I'll defiantly check out his work sometime!