It’s been a while since I’ve listened to Longmont Potion Castle, cracking up on long drives to gags like “Rope” where LPC—his secret identity safe to this day—crank calls Mountain Truck Loading to try to set up a shipment of rope to Nebraska. “What’s that beepin’?” the man on the phone asks. He’s heard the beep of a phone recorder and he’s already suspicious at the vagueness of LPC’s request. “That’s just some rope moving around,” LPC replies. The call degenerates moments later. “I knew it was you,” the man accuses. LPC plays it stoney. “I’m familiar with rope, my training is in rope.”
There’s something special about LPC’s self-described “phone work,” which earns him a higher stature than other, more callous crank callers. His style is more absurd and, as his albums progress, LPC incorporates a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off level of voice modulation and sound distortion to his approach. The new indie mockumentary/documentary comedy Where in the Hell Is the Lavender House? sits down with LPC at his home studio and shadows a few calls. He connects several unsuspecting retail managers, from different locations of the same business, and we hear them all good-naturedly try to provide customer care to one another. That moment alone makes the 95-minute indie film worth your time.
