"You get what you deserve"

Nutrition Fun - The Legend
Unread #81

The Legend—from an artist I quite admire, Andy Berkley (Nutrition Fun)—is a neat, little box of wonderful contrasts. The intimacy is fixed, precise: Berkley's vocals occupy this hushed space between "library voice" and "normal conversation voice"; his strummed guitar barley agitates the needle on the VU meter; he clears his throat; on one track, you can hear a television playing in the background after the song has ended, which means Berkley is likely recording in his living room—or someone's living room. Contrasting that intimacy is all sorts of hiss and distortion and general lo-fi babble. And lyrics like, "Believe me friend / They're not missing you" or "And that's a wicked curse / You get what you deserve."

So Berkley is drawing you in for a hug, while simultaneously elbowing you out of the way. Or, to use an analogy that makes sense only to me, it's like hearing Berkley play two rooms away and moving to the room next to him for a better listen and then getting up again to go sit in the room he's actually playing in, only to realize he has also moved one room over. You get up again and he gets up again, and the whole God damn game continues.

This is the last Nutrition Fun release I could find listed on Unread's web site. Concerned, I emailed founder Christopher Fischer, asking if Berkley still records.

ryan - ha. well, he would say no, but since he is my roomate, and i force his ass to alot of the times...i guess the answer would be maybe...? we are working on a new split tape, though it may never see the light of day. christopher