Things took a turn for the better after keyboardist Tutu joined in the mid-1990s. A highly-regarded session player from Inner Mongolia, Tutu assembled his own studio for various recording projects. Tutu did the engineering and production himself. The album cover is a painting by lead singer Xiao. Girlfriends contributed backing vocals.
Few bands can duplicate such zero-sum production costs, but many have the same free spirit.
It helps explain the explosion of bands with names like Fruit Flavor Vitamin C, Sick Doctors, Ouch, Unfilial Son, Battle Axe and Twisted Machine. The hard haul for Beijing rock bands helps explain the edge of their sound and presentation. After all, complacency never produced good rock. That's why bands like the Beatles emerged from bleak landscapes like Liverpool. Still, many believe the mainland rock scene has already seen its best days.