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El Greco - Crap A Doodle Doo
Hah! I was hanging out at a local Chicago punk rock bar called Delilah's (it rocks! go there! now!) one day just passing time with Michelle and Jenni. After a few rounds I had to pay a visit to the bathroom. That is where I first came across El Greco. How, you ask? Well it was in the form of a sticker that someone had strategically placed on the bottom of the toilet seat. When I kindly raised it to keep the women across the nation happy, the sticker immediately jumped out and caught my attention. Funny, not a week later I received the El Greco "Crap A Doodle Doo" CD in the mail for review. So what the hell is El Greco you ask? It's pretty difficult to explain, actually. I found El Greco slightly similar to that crazy bastard Atom &, let me not forget, His Package. El Greco is much darker and uses different instruments but the goal is the same - to have fun. While none of the songs on "Crap A Doodle Doo" will stick in your head for very long, as the CD plays you will still find yourself singing along to the wacky songs. "Crap A Doodle Doo" is highly experimental stuff for the hell of it that won't win any awards - and that will be just fine with El Greco. His aim is not to create poppy sing-along choruses. Rather, El Greco is here to fuck around with as many instruments as he can, include some funny lyrics and samples, and make people laugh. His mixture of metal, hip-hop and electronica will turn many people off, but for fuck's sake people - it's just music. With so many bands out there taking themselves way, way too seriously - El Greco's approach proves very refreshing. Although only 6 tracks long "Crap A Doodle Doo" ends with a 30 minute 14 song track that defies sense and defines El Greco. Some of the song titles on this piece of shiny plastic are "Noisy Mickey Mouse Stuff", "How Much Did We Drink?", "Hippy Jam (parts 1 and 2)", "Too Drunk To Write A Coherent Song" and "A Song For Satan". Definitely not for the faint of heart or humor challenged, but a fun listen nevertheless.

PULSE (of the twin cities)

El Greco
Crap-a-Doodle-Doo (self-release)
This is lo-fi four-track experimentation. That's me being nice. I bet El Greco hates that when he raps he sounds like Anthony Kiedis. I hate it too. The more I listen, the more I hate realizing I am hearing someone musically masturbate. If Fantômas had a copycat younger sibling this has to be it. This can hardly be considered a finished product, but can be considered "avant garde" if you're in denial, or really want to go there.
For the week of August 22th, 2001

Toilet Humor

Man: El Greco
Album: Crap-a-Doodle-Doo
Available: Now
Buy This CD!
I was first exposed to El Greco when I saw Big Dumb Face at the Axis. What I didn't know is that this man in incredible. His songs, although simple, will make you fall on the floor and roll around in laughter. His new CD, Crap-a-Doodle-Do, is no exception, and the King of Lo Fi Death metal folk music is back, for now at least. Before you dive into this or any of El Grecos masterpieces, be warned that these aren't all professionally recorded, so check out some mp3s before you make the buy. But I think that the over-all humor and good time you'll have with this CD over shadows the lack of quality recordings (all of his previous recordings are all mostly recorded on a 4 track).

Dead On The Web

El Greco
"Crap a Doodle Doo"
Label: Who Cares
Grade: F-
Posted 7/27/01
Who was the sick fuck that sent me this shit? Let me just say that this cd lives up to it’s name. Crap a Doodle Doo!
- Angry Al

Intoxicated Webzine

El Greco - 6 Pack Of Stank Demo
Mummy, I'm frightened! I'm very frightened! El Greco is scary stuff from the mind of an absolute madman. I can't tell whether he is being serious or not. "Ge' In Hoopty Widdit", "I Need Ciggies" and, worst (or best of all depending on how much you hate/love Skid Row) a "cover" of "18 & Life". Apparently 6 Pack Of Stank was recorded during 8 drunk and disorderly nights. It shows!
Graham Finney

Splendid E-zine

El Greco / Crap-A-Doodle-Doo / Self-Released (CD)
Under the name Big Dumb Face, Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland recently released his solo debut, Duke Lion Fights the Terror. Given the quality, or lack thereof, of his "day job" output, many were likely surprised by the wide variety of genres encompassed by his debut. Crap-A-Doodle-Doo has much in common with Big Dumb Face -- and not just because El Greco opened for Borland and Co. on their recent tour. Metal, electronica and hip-hop are combined throughout the album, the key difference being that Crap-A-Doodle-Doo answers the question of what Big Dumb Face would sound like fronted by Fred Durst. Homophobia, not to mention stupidity, fuels most of the lyrics. The album feels self-indugent -- particularly the half-hour-long final track, which, given a complete overhaul and a good producer, could probably be dismantled and turned into ten shorter songs. Certainly, such weirdness is to be applauded in itself -- but as El Greco proves, being different is not the same as being good.
mp

Geek America

El Greco "Crap a doodle doo" CD
Grade: F
Atom and his package should be put in a closet forever as punishment for what he has done to music. Now apparently it's acceptable for anyone to put out complete nonsense and expect someone out there to think it's cool. My God, this isn't tolerable at all. It's some idiot rambling along with a drum machine. It is really bad. Somebody paid close to $2000.00 to infect the world with 1000 of these cd's. (CS)
6/15

Satan Stole My Teddybear

El Greco
Crap-a-Doodle-Doo! 2001
self-released
It would seem that there are certain alienated teenagers out there who eventually find a way to exact revenge upon their tormentors. In some cases, these childhood geeks grow up to eventually own a multibillion dollar industry that pains its clients with famous "blue screens of death" and other Windows flaws. In other cases, these geeks find musical equipment and recording gear and inflict musical revenge upon the unsuspecting world at large. Ween is one of the more famous examples of two clever geeks finally inflicting their harsh brand of justice on the world. El Greco is simply a lesser example and I do mean lesser in all meanings of the world.
Apparently El Greco has been releasing cassettes for several years now. Crap-a-Doodle-Doo! is his first CD release and with any luck, it'll be his last. Think of Ween mixed with half-hearted metal passages, a lot of squeaky voices, random vocal effects, meandering songs without any real structure to enhance the weirdness and an overall lack of cleverness. Being weird in music is fine if you are doing more than than just stringing a bunch of odd ideas together without a sense of a greater purpose for the song. El Greco seems like his songwriting consists of accidentally doing something strange and thinking, "Gee, I'll just toss it in the same song with my last weird idea." In other words, this is just drivel parading as something disturbingly bizarre. The last track is nearly a half hour long and is completely an inane waste of the listener's time. In fact, this entire CD has that tendency to enrage the listener, who could be doing much more important things, such as standing in the line at the DMV behind a mother and her six screaming, bratty children.
There's simply no need to hear self-indulgent dross that lacks all the wit and cleverness that is required for such odd music. Now, I must depart and go apologize to the cat for even playing this in her presence.
Review by John Chedsey
6/01

Aiding and Abetting

El Greco
Crap-A-Doodle-Doo
(self-released)
So I've listened to this album, and I still don't know what to write. El Greco is one guy, and he's got an Adam Sandler-esque way of meandering through the silly music of the last quarter century. Borrowing from a number of styles, including hip-hop, death metal and hipster rock (often in the same song), El Greco doesn't flinch from throwing a batch of crap into the mix.
His concepts seem better (and funnier) than the results. The bio in the press kit (which may or may not have been written by the man himself) is a scream. It's quite apparent that El Greco doesn't take himself or his music particularly seriously. This is a good thing.
Because for all of his efforts, the stuff doesn't sing. It's not terribly funny and I think it would be difficult to characterize any of his musical ramblings as "inspired" or even "particularly intriguing." In short, I got annoyed.
But I was curious enough to listen again, to hear if I missed anything. Couldn't find it if I did. El Greco isn't bad in the normal sense. He seems to be a creative guy with a lot of ideas to express. He's just expressing them in a way that I can't quite grasp. Maybe it's my fault. I always have to admit that possibility. There is, however, the other side of that coin. Maybe El Greco's admittedly far-ranging excursions just don't work so well.

Jim Santo's Demo Universe

El Greco
6-Pack Of Stank
(Date received: 1/6/2001)
Falling somewhere among Beasties, Jon Spencer, Captain Beefheart and an annoying drunk (and landing closest to the drunk), El Greco packs a whole lotta stank - and fun - into this cassette, the fifth in a series of releases stretching back to 1994. "Ge'in Hoopty Widdit," "They Call Me The Deuch (Part 2)," "Samples Don't Have To Make Sense," "Shut The Fuck Up" and a reverent cover of Skid Row's "18 And Life" are highlights of this lo-fi party favorite. Catch El Greco on tour in 2001 with Big Dumb Face, side project of Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland, a longtime friend and fan.

Eternal Frost Webzine

EL GRECO 6-Pack of Stank
self-released (2000)
What the fuck is this!! Don't people realize this is an EXTREME METAL publication?! This tape is the shittiest of goddamn shit. I can't wait to smash this piece of dung to kingdom come with a hammer. . . Who wants to listen to some white guy try to act like he's black backed up by a badly-programmed drum machine emitting gay hip-hop beats? I know I don't. FUCK THIS GARBAGE!
Contact info? Who fucking cares!