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 couple 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 concerned with artwork music, somewhat 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 feel 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, however, 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 course of Repetition Repetition: Keyboard figures repeat advert infinitum, whereas spacious guitar traces swoop and soar. It’s a easy however efficient system that Garcia and Caton put to tape as quickly as they started enjoying collectively. From 1984 to 1987, they produced the whole lot of their discography—three cassettes and two compilation tracks. A choice of these uncommon songs make up Match for Penalties, which showcases their temporary however good evolution.
The earliest observe 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 superb with that—however Repetition Repetition made it their very own with slightly lo-fi grit that separated them from capital-M Minimalism. “Condo Life,” from the 1985 debut, is extra pristine, with a beautiful piano half that anchors chirping tape results. However even within the track’s meditative drift, Caton’s sparse guitar work maintains a refined stress. In the event that they wore their influences on their sleeves, they at the least had the great style to tailor them to the underground.
After their first album, Repetition Repetition modified how they labored. As an alternative of enjoying 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 together with his personal components. 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 take a seat 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 unit in order that he can proceed to make artwork, “luchando por mi música”—preventing for his music.
