THE JESUS LIZARD: DOWN (REVIEW)
October 19th 2006 10:29
THE JESUS LIZARD
DOWN
(1994; TOUCH & GO)
RATING:
TRACK LISTING: 1) Fly On The Wall / 2) Mistletoe / 3) Countless Backs Of Sad Losers / 4) Queen For A Day / 5) The Associate / 6) Destroy Before Reading / 7) Low Rider / 8) 50c / 9) American BB / 10) Horse / 11) Din / 12) Elegy / 13) The Best Parts
Down (1994) is a li’l different from anything the Jesus Lizard had recorded up to this point. Perhaps this is due to their crumbling relationship with longtime producer and friend, Steve Albini, who was a-feudin' and a-fussin' with 'em at the time. This might be why Down was mixed, "all over the darn place," as the liner notes tell me; although it manages to keep a pretty consistent if weird-ass sound: with a prominent, pounding low end and an accent on the piercing geetar and Mac McNeilley's swishy cymbals. It doesn't quite have the nipple-pinching immediacy of albums like Goat (1991) and Liar (1992), due partly to its shorter length. But it kinda makes up for this with its subtler mood, with a stronger nod to their patented brand of Lizard Jazz than ever before.
This is no more evident than in "The Associate": with David Simms' stately bassline oozing cool all over the bathroom tiles. Duane Denison also gets a chance to show off his chops in the extended ass-flamin' guitar solo, and while I appreciate his restraint in most cases, it's just what the doctor ordered here, and in no way wanky or self-indulgent. "50c" and "American BB" also betray swing and blues influences and vocalist David Yow references Charles Mingus 'n' Charlie Parker in "Destroy Before Reading" (i.e they “fuck fer breakfast”) while the band finds a groove and repeats the motif with subtle variations, like some mutant jazz combo jammin' in the sewers of your rotten soul.
There's a diverse array of other sounds 'n' styles twisted to the Jesus Lizard idiom. "Queen For A Day" chugs along like ZZ Top with an electrifyin' greasy solo; "Horse" has some groovie-ghoulie, atmospheric organ; and "Elegy" is a gorgeously depresssed and depressing tune: this album's "Pastoral." Yow has the whole poet laureate masquerading as a drunken bum thing down-pat by now, and whether it's the retarded redneck dialect in "American BB", the paranoid rant of "Mistletoe", or his quoting of Dante's Inferno in "Queen For A Day" his lyrics never fail to impress and more often than not scare the shit outta ya with their surreal violence—and they’re all delivered in Yow’s rabid-dog-tearing-apart-a-housecat growl.
This is the first album I ever heard by this criminally underacknowledged band and it converted me into a prostlytisin' and a-testifyin' born again broth-ah of the Jesus Lizard. But don't look to it for your instant SAL-VAY-SHUN followers, unless your willing to keep an open mind and understand that this is somewhat of an anomaly in the band's oeuvre; albeit an ass-slappin' good one. Give it some time and y'all shall be rewarded. It gets under your skin like a splinter: a lovely big splinter stuck in your thumb so it gets all infected until it swells up to the size of a football, making it easier to hitchhike and thus, get brutally murdered by serial killers.
You see ladies ‘n’ gentlemen? Rewards!
***
IMAGES
Down*
(album cover used under fair dealing)
* images on this page were taken from the following Wikipedia page:
Down
DOWN
(1994; TOUCH & GO)
RATING:
TRACK LISTING: 1) Fly On The Wall / 2) Mistletoe / 3) Countless Backs Of Sad Losers / 4) Queen For A Day / 5) The Associate / 6) Destroy Before Reading / 7) Low Rider / 8) 50c / 9) American BB / 10) Horse / 11) Din / 12) Elegy / 13) The Best Parts
Down (1994)
This is no more evident than in "The Associate": with David Simms' stately bassline oozing cool all over the bathroom tiles. Duane Denison also gets a chance to show off his chops in the extended ass-flamin' guitar solo, and while I appreciate his restraint in most cases, it's just what the doctor ordered here, and in no way wanky or self-indulgent. "50c" and "American BB" also betray swing and blues influences and vocalist David Yow references Charles Mingus 'n' Charlie Parker in "Destroy Before Reading" (i.e they “fuck fer breakfast”) while the band finds a groove and repeats the motif with subtle variations, like some mutant jazz combo jammin' in the sewers of your rotten soul.
There's a diverse array of other sounds 'n' styles twisted to the Jesus Lizard idiom. "Queen For A Day" chugs along like ZZ Top with an electrifyin' greasy solo; "Horse" has some groovie-ghoulie, atmospheric organ; and "Elegy" is a gorgeously depresssed and depressing tune: this album's "Pastoral." Yow has the whole poet laureate masquerading as a drunken bum thing down-pat by now, and whether it's the retarded redneck dialect in "American BB", the paranoid rant of "Mistletoe", or his quoting of Dante's Inferno in "Queen For A Day" his lyrics never fail to impress and more often than not scare the shit outta ya with their surreal violence—and they’re all delivered in Yow’s rabid-dog-tearing-apart-a-housecat growl.
This is the first album I ever heard by this criminally underacknowledged band and it converted me into a prostlytisin' and a-testifyin' born again broth-ah of the Jesus Lizard. But don't look to it for your instant SAL-VAY-SHUN followers, unless your willing to keep an open mind and understand that this is somewhat of an anomaly in the band's oeuvre; albeit an ass-slappin' good one. Give it some time and y'all shall be rewarded. It gets under your skin like a splinter: a lovely big splinter stuck in your thumb so it gets all infected until it swells up to the size of a football, making it easier to hitchhike and thus, get brutally murdered by serial killers.
You see ladies ‘n’ gentlemen? Rewards!
***
IMAGES
Down*
(album cover used under fair dealing)
* images on this page were taken from the following Wikipedia page:
Down
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Comment by Chantal
Havent heard of these guys but I'll be sure to have a listen!
Comment by Hellvis
Earache Hotel
I love the fact that Google generates ads about Earache medicine for my blog. I think that's very appropriate and beneficial for anyone who listens to a band like the Jesus Lizard. They are none too pretty and definitely an acquired taste.
What sort of stuff do you listen to?