CITIZINE REVIEWS
by Kevin Schooley
Ministry
Cover Up
(13th Planet/Megaforce Records)
Ah, the cover song. Both the bane and the beauty of the music fan, the
cover can inspire or enrage; often it brings both emotions to the forefront.
Take for example Van Halen's version of Roy Orbison's classic "Pretty
Woman": Eddie Van Halen makes the main riff into a monster, but
Dave Roth & crew omit the song's bridge which almost bastardizes the
song beyond redemption. Or perhapse for your consideration Celine Dion's
mauling of AC/DC's "You
Shook Me All Night Long," almost universally considered the WORST
cover EVER. Such a sweetly subjective sceince is what endures listeners
to the cover song, and by extention the covers album--whether it be a
compilation, crapshoot or a conqueror. It boils down to a wonderful vaguery:
We're ultimately curious to see how the music is interpreted and by whom.
That being said, Ministry
is one of those bands in which curiosity and interpretation play a key
role in their evolution. Over more than two decades, they've mutated from
post-new wave dancefloor to industrial icons to damn near metal masters.
Yet no matter what incarnation of them you hear, the response is pretty
evident: You're listening to Ministry. Add a smattering of covers to their
lengthy discography, and Cover Up, the most recent brouhaha brought
about by bandleader Al Jourgensen and his merry pranksters, is the result.
Technically, Cover Up will technically be Ministry's last record,
as their previous tour supporting The Last Sucker was to bookend
their career. But as in so many projects, there always seems to be parts
left over; ergo this record. There's not too many clever things to be
said about this release. If you're a fan of Ministry, you'll dig Cover
Up; if not, you may never listen to one noe (well, maybe once out
of regard for the tracklisting). Based mainly in the sound of their last
three records that cemented their return to glory (Houses Of The Mole,
Rio Grande Blood, The Last Sucker), the guys have slated
a set of AOR classics that both satisfy and beg the question: What else
does Ministry have in their vault, covers, B-sides or otherwise?
For a band credited as champions of--if not originators--of modern industrial
music, there's an awful lot of tracks by artists more inclined to be on
Super Sounds Of The 70's than The Black Box. Despite their
pedigree, Ministry can whip up honest takes on some truly overplayed numbers,
like "Radar Love," for example. But this ain't your father's
Golden Earring, it's "Grandpa" Al's. The selection that probably
hits the hardest is Deep Purple's "Space Truckin'" with revved-up
double picking of Ritchie Blackmore's original guitar work and Prong's
Thomas M. Victor nailing Ian Gillen's high notes like a banshee. Black
Oak Arkansas and Mountain are well-represented too, as the vox on "Black
Betty" would've made Jim "Dandy" Mangrum proud, and "Mississippi
Queen" and it's slick, fast lead maintains the legendary power of
Leslie West plus a bit of speed.
The intensity of "Space Truckin'" may be only bested by the
Texas fury of "Just Got Paid" by ZZ Top. This track reflects
the sympiosis between The Lone Star State and Jourgensen, as the Ministry
camp now has roots in El Paso via a few years in Marble Falls. If you
listen to this track enough, you're head may explode a-la David Cronenberg's
Scanners. Altogether, Cover Up is slightly anticlimactic simply
due to the fact that it comes on the heels of Ministry's past three records,
but overall is probably best akin to the end of a great meal. There's
always some tasty crumbs.
---
My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges
(ATO/Red Records)
The
rock and roll cookbook is not one of exact recipies. Some dishes come
out super spicy while others are so bland that a glass of tap water would
be considered a robust adventure. Every now and again though, certain
bands find that perfect combination of influences to deliver a truly savory
product. My
Morning Jacket's mad fusion has reulted in some truly great records
during the Southern Rennaissance of the late 90's and early 2000's, such
as It Still Moves and The Tennessee Fire, hinting at what
Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin may have sounded had they hailed from MMJ's
native Kentucky. Other efforts take on a strange mixture of post-punk
pop merged with funky bass and organ lines as did 2005's Z. That brings
us to the here and now with the release of Evil Urges, which is
almost a double LP in a single-disc packaging and somewhat schizophrenic
in its presentation.
The onset of the record is standard fare for MMJ, as the title track eases
into a familiar Southern comfort level of lightly picked guitar overlayed
with what has become the familiar falsetto vocal of principal songwriter
and singer/guitarist Jim James. That's not to say that James is sedintary
in his vocal or guitar style, as he returns to his normal timber by the
second number, "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1." But it's
the third track, "Highly Suspicious," that deviates from the
south to the almost silly. Here James and lead guitarist Carl Broemel
bring the rawk (not just "rock," mind you), but the licks are
almost offset by the singing which evokes images of Prince of all people
during the verse and masked internet cartoon superstar Strong Bad at the
chorus. Not that the Purple One can't bring the mean riffs and solos,
it's just not quite what MMJ normally brings to mind. And that 's the
beauty of the Louisville outfit: This band can leave their main highway
for backroads less traveled; however, they seem to know where and when
to rejoin their original wagon train. That they do relatively quickly
on Urges. Upon the first listen, this record behaves a bit erradically,
almost as if it were two EPs put forth as Sides 1 and 2 of an LP. However,
the fluid pedal-steel-infused country-rock does return to full glory very
soon as Evil Urges calmly eases into a musical blend as sweet as Southern
tea.
A bit more sedate than It Still Moves, Urges still brings
some weight on the aforementioned "Highly Suspicious," along
with what sound like the album's singles, "I'm Amazed" and "Aluminum
Park." The former leans a bit towards a lighter, less smutty version
of Montrose's "Rock Candy" while "Aluminum Park" almost
arrives too late in the album's sequence, as the smooth, Emmylou Harris-styled
tracks in the middle of the record dissapear rapidly with the strong beats
of drummer Patrick Hallahan bashing out the beginning of "Park."
But the aggressive side of MMJ stands strong in the more up-tempo tracks
of the second half of the disc, especially with the haunting chorus and
lead guitar of "Remnants," which could easily evolve into one
of MMJ's newer live jems with an extended jam in the song's rich middle
section. The element of MMJ's live shows is present in most of their studio
albums, and Urges is no exception; certain of these tracks tease at what
they could be or will be live. Unfairly or not, they have fallen into
that most dangerously disappointing of genres: The Jam Band. Rest assured,
though: they are more than that. Their studio accumen has grown as the
members of the band have matured, almost as if they've progressed from
dishwasher to gourmet chef. The disc's closer, "Touch Me I'm Going
To Scream Pt. 2" is probably the most representative of the complet
My Morning Jacket with ghostly, wordless vocals in the song's bridge and
stout rhythm and ethereal keyboard work from Bo Koster.
Of the New Southern rock bands that have staked their claim to so many
ears over the past decade, few have the uniqueness of My Morning Jacket
without becoming obtuse or losing their core audience. And with their
continually evolving musical tinkering, they should be pleasing the pallets
of listeners for quite some time to come. This isn't some cheap buffet,
it's a seven-course meal with all the trimmings.
---
Melvins
Nude With Boots
(Ipecac Records)
Now
that James Brown has shuffled off this mortal coil, the Melvins’
Buzz Osbourne may be the hardest working man in show business. Only his
labelmate and Ipecac Records founder Mike Patton could possibly challenge
him for that title. Going on for more than two decades, Osbourne and longtime
Melvin Dale Crover have maintained tunnel vision-like focus on their band
regardless of musical trends. No Seattle sound (of which they were integral),
no face-painting church-burning Norwegian Black Metal, no nu-metal (that’s
best left ignored by any account); just Melvins music. Well, maybe with
an exponential factor in that King Buzzo and Crover (along with a varying
roster of bandmates that has been recently anchored with Big Business’
Jared Warren and Coady Willis) unleashed fantastic side projects like
The Melvins/Fantomas Big Band and collaborations with Jello
Biafra (2005’s Sieg Howdy!) in addition to maintaining
the perpetual motion of the Melvins as its own entity. On the heels of
the Biafra effort, the sublime 2006 release A Senile Animal, and
an almost endless tour with Big Business, King Buzzo and cronies are back
with the follow up to Animal, Nude With Boots.
When discussing Melvins music, the first influence rearing its head is
usually Black Sabbath (especially the Ozzy years), yet the lead track
on Boots gets off the ground with a Zeppelin-esque groove in “The
Kicking Machine.” Here, Willis’s drumming evokes the thunderous
fury of John Bonham with fat, bluesy riffs harkening back to Jimmy Page.
This track lends itself to multiple roles: It definitely rocks, but it
also serves the purpose of bringing the listener into the album as a whole,
kinda like “Good Times, Bad Times” from Led Zeppelin. The familiar
creep of the Birmingham fathers of heavy metal returns rather quickly
in “Dog Island” though, with thickly-layered, effect-laden vocal
harmonies. Long, patient riffs accentuate this track as it coalesces what
would be side one of Nude With Boots if it were an LP record, building
to the one-two punch of “Dies Iraea” and “Suicide In Progress.”
The former of these two tracks is an instrumental heavy with gongs and
the guitar and bass mirroring each other in thick octaves. The latter
is somewhat of a right angle to its predecessor, as it comes out of the
gate as straight-up rock and roll. Try not to tap your foot to this one;
the guitar almost sounds happy in a gleefully sleazy way, evoking more
an image of Chuck Berry than Toni Iommi. Then the vocals make their presence
felt as King Buzzo tweaks the overall sound of “Suicide…”
into a more witchy tone.
Either the track that would round out side one or usher in side two is
probably the most Melvins-y song on the entire disc, “The Smiling
Cobra.” Here Buzz, Crover, Warren and Willis pull no punches. The
guitar work is straightforward and unrelenting, complemented by furious
vocals that are more reminiscent of the band’s earlier works like
that on Houdini. Later in the album’s track listing, the Melvins
revert to some old friends of theirs: Sonic experimentation and outright
noise. “Flush” and “The Savage Hippy” offer forth
haunting little snippets of sound that--much like “Dies Iraea”
-- act as lead-ins to the subsequent songs, of which “The Stupid
Creep” jump back to rock and roll basics.
As much of a guitar god as King Buzzo has become, Nude With Boots
almost surrenders itself to the drumming of Coady Willis. Just as songs
on this record twist and turn, one thing remains most constant, and that
is Willis’s skin pounding. As much sonic bombast as the Melvins deliver
on their records, seeing them live is transcendent. It’s kinda like
wandering off into the woods (especially if you are dendrophobic); it’s
dark and creepy, and you never really know what you’ll run into.
But if you face the fear, maybe it can be absorbed and eventually appreciated.
The Melvins played
Emo’s on
Friday, August 22. They were really, really loud.
* * * * *
Kevin Schooley hosts a late-night radio show on Kaos Radio Austin.