L.A. Weekly
By Greg Burk

RICHARD MELTZER, ROBERT POLLARD, SMEGMA & ANTLER
Tropic of Nipples EP
Off Records

Meltzer gave me this brand-new emerald-green-and-tarnished-bronze-colored 7-inch 33-1/3 rpm circular vinyl thing for my unbirthday, and except insofar as more than one was pressed, it's unique.  Which is not a sideways compliment; Tropic is surely the pointy horns of the Apis bull.  Writer Meltzer and drunk Guided by Voices singer Pollard alternate ranting/singing their poetry while, in true Beat fashion, the fuck-all musical ensembles Smegma and Antler respectively improvise walls of quite creditable electro-acoustic torture simulations.  Pollard: "I'll support your life system/ but you gotta do your part/ and hold me open the door."  Meltzer: "I'm gonna go to one of those/ good places 'n' get some...GOODNESS."