Harold Budd lastly agreed to breakfast. The minimalist composer had been receiving letters from somebody named Ruben Garcia insisting that they meet; Garcia thought that Repetition Repetition, his band with native L.A. guitarist Steve Caton, would curiosity Budd. He was proper: When the three sat down at a Mexican place collectively, they hit it off instantly and went again to Garcia’s home to jam. Budd collaborated on a number of tracks on the duo’s self-titled 1985 debut, plugging one reverb unit into one other to make Garcia’s keyboard hover and glide. “They determined in some unspecified time in the future that they had been keen on artwork music, moderately than soiled membership rock’n’roll,” Budd mentioned in a lecture on the time. “That is going to be tough, however God assist them, I believe they’re nice.”
Caton was into “soiled membership rock’n’roll” having performed in punk bands earlier than hooking up with Tori Amos’ early new-wave group Y Kant Tori Learn, however he dabbled in jazz and classical as nicely. Garcia, alternatively, was fanatically single-minded. “Minimalism is my life,” he mentioned, and meant it. The 2 discovered widespread floor within the work of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, which decided the route of Repetition Repetition: Keyboard figures repeat advert infinitum, whereas spacious guitar traces swoop and soar. It’s a easy however efficient formulation that Garcia and Caton put to tape as quickly as they started taking part in collectively. From 1984 to 1987, they produced the whole thing of their discography—three cassettes and two compilation tracks. A collection of these uncommon songs make up Match for Penalties, which showcases their transient however sensible evolution.
The earliest monitor right here is “Over & Over, Pt. 1,” initially from a 1984 compilation on L.A.’s obscure Trance Port Tapes, which introduces their modus operandi. Garcia’s synthesizer ostinatos create a dizzying, hypnotizing impact that’s tempered by Caton’s understated, melancholic guitar washes. This sound wasn’t novel within the mid-’80s—Garcia knew that Terry Riley had gotten there lengthy earlier than, and was advantageous with that—however Repetition Repetition made it their very own with a bit lo-fi grit that separated them from capital-M Minimalism. “Condominium Life,” from the 1985 debut, is extra pristine, with a beautiful piano half that anchors chirping tape results. However even within the tune’s meditative drift, Caton’s sparse guitar work maintains a refined pressure. In the event that they wore their influences on their sleeves, they not less than had the nice style to tailor them to the underground.
After their first album, Repetition Repetition modified how they labored. As a substitute of taking part in collectively, Garcia would improvise solo in his house studio after which ship the reels and the 4-track to Caton, who discovered roughly song-shaped sections to complement along with his personal elements. Although the method was extra impersonal, it gave every musician an opportunity to craft their contributions on their very own time and on their very own phrases. “Lakeland” is the obvious little bit of Eno worship, clearly the work of Garcia, and Caton is aware of to sit down again and simply watch its gently rippling piano figures shimmer. On “The Males Are Preventing,” Caton takes cost with overdriven heavy-metal riffs whereas the keyboard units a darkish, brooding temper. Garcia supplies the band’s solely lyrics right here, delivered in Spanish, describing the lifetime of a machinist working in a manufacturing facility in order that he can proceed to make artwork, “luchando por mi música”—preventing for his music.