It’s hard to believe that 2002 was seven freakin’ years ago, but I clearly remember an entire summer of driving around the South just BLASTING the self titled album by Floor. As a fan of their singles up to that point, I knew what to expect from their first full length, but man, I didn’t know how much they improved.
In a nutshell, I’ve always said that Floor album was a perfectly psychedelic My Bloody Valentine/Black Sabbath hybrid with 10 times the hooks. Listen to "Kallisti" and "Lolita" if you don’t believe me. And I’m listening to the album now as I’m typing this up, and I still think I’m pretty right.
Floor crumbled away in 2004, but I was fortunate enough to see them a number of times (often in a room of 10 or 20 people) and was always blown away. Always. Towards the end of the band, they’d play songs that’d become the early material for Steve Brooks’s next band, Torche.
Fortunately, Torche hasn’t fallen upon the same level of under-appreciation. And because the songs are just so, well, um, perfect, there’s a reason that Torche often does entire strings of Floor songs during their set. Just absolutely brilliant.
The mightily ambitious nutballs at Robotic Empire are doing what any label that just damns to the torpedoes would do in 2009: release a box set by Floor!
Below and Beyond is a box set worthy of Floor’s mighty influence. Ten 12" records, a 7" EP, eight CDs, a 32 page book and a freakin’ t-shirt in a cloth bound box! Good christ, I’m gonna have to move some stuff around when it arrives just so it has the room!
There’s only 300 or so being made and as a friend and fan of the band, I’m going to push this impending masterpiece on the readers of this site. Furthermore, in typical Chunklet fashion, we’re giving you some bonuses! Below you’ll find downloads of two songs from the box. Yes, you’re welcome. And you have Robotic Empire to thank.
Also, just because I’d love more people to hear them, I’m including a link to download two entire shows by the band. One in Philly and one at the Caledonia in Athens back in ’03. Their overly dense sound is truly majestic live, but can be hard to replicate in a live recording, but these do the job pretty well.
Enjoy. And seriously, go pre-order the box set. It’s worth it. Trust me.
Floor – Xtian
Floor – The Pulse