Punchy punk-pop, bristling with hooks and bursting with smart, cynical lyrics… need I say more? Disillusioned youth never sounded better. Gallo and Lanza trade lead and backing vocal chores; she shrieks and roars (sweetly), he yelps the words in a frenzy before his head explodes. Only the instrumental “Dragonfly” fails to deliver a decisive blow, but I’ll forgive ’em that error in judgement, ’cause the tape ends with a “sell-out edit” of “Red, Green, Blue,” which gets my vote for national anthem of 1996: “Vultures suck, culture’s fucked/T.V. the way to reality.”

— Jim Santo’s Demo Universe

PERSONNEL:
Lisa Gallo: vocals, bass
Hector Lonza: vocals, guitar
Mark Tristan: drums

Produced by Big Top
Engineered by Steve [illegible]

TRACK LISTING:
Side A
Pigtails
Red, Green, Blue
Pop Song
Hey, Boy
Toaster
Dragonfly
Red, Green, Blue (Sell-Out Edit)

With its tiny type, poorly chosen font and shitty color laser reproduction, this ribbon’s J-card was miserable to begin with and now? Forget about it! Whatever, this is a fun tape, punky & noisy. The idea of a “sell-out edit” is so quaint now, but I’m sure they were sincere! As if, right? Formed in Houston, Big Top released “Red, Green, Blue” on a split “7 with local punk band The Freshmakers in 1996 before breaking up in ’98. Guitarist Hector Lanza (real name: Hugo Hector Lanza) moved to Austin (as one does) and formed a band called Rainbow Dragon, last active in 2015. Lisa Gallo-Roth went on to join Houston post-rock/ambient band My Twilight Pilot , active as recently as 2018. Mark Tristan has disappeared from recorded music history.