STACK #137 Mar 2016

MUSIC REVIEWS

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VIOLENT FEMMES

LNZNDRF LNZNDRF Maybe if The National weren’t so rightly adored we’d find their collective talent insufferable. After a slew of classic band albums, Matt Berninger came up with El Vy, Bryce Dessner composed for the Kronos Quartet and his brother Aaron turned producer/accomplice for Sharon Van Etten. And that’s a mere sprinkling of what they’ve been up to. Now the spotlight falls on

They are back and touring, two-thirds of the original band, so where to start with these post-punk folk-busking rockers?

Violent Femmes (1983) The impressive debut of a trio – singer/guitarist/ songwriter Gordon Gano, bassist/singer Brian Ritchie and drummer Victor DeLorenz – which started life busking in Milwaukee. Their amped- up songs captured teenage and post-adolescent

the quintet’s less celebrated siblings, Scott and Bryan Devendorf. On stage, Scott’s role as bassist/rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist brings him to the fore. Bryan, the quiet one, is a percussionist of immense, almost classical, brilliance. On this outing they team up with Ben Lanz – best known as trombonist and general creative with Beirut and The National. What we get here is a psych-prog workout, recorded over two days in a Cincinnati church. Reference points range from early Hawkwind (no, really) to the hazy ravey days of Madchester. Cosmic jamming abounds on the likes of Hypno-Skate and Future You , driven by Bryan’s insistent sticks. Then we get the daftly catchy Kind Things and urgently melodic Beneath the Black Sea . The limits of time seems to be a lyrical theme, but lack of space here prevents a full disclosure of LNZNDRF’S dark matters. A mystic and joyous noise, like the last great gig on earth. (4AD/Remote Control) GarethThompson

discomforts and delivered them in short, snappy pop songs. Includes Blister in the Sun , Add It Up , Prove My Love and Gone Daddy Gone . A kind of 'greatest hits' debut. Hallowed Ground (1984) The debut part two in many ways, because most of the songs were written before the first album. Now with clout (and guests like avant-saxist John Zorn and Tony Trischka on banjo), the music stretched more – Never Tell is over seven minutes – and into more jazz and dark country, and Gano's Christian faith. A fine album which hardly sold, and includes Gano's harrowing murder ballad Country Death Song . The Blind Leading The Naked (1986) Produced by fan Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) who had an ear for what might appeal at radio, this third album was their most successful in the States and although the band were at the point of splitting up (which they did shortly after, to re-form without DeLorenzo later) this is a strong outing, notable for their cover of T. Rex's Children of the Revolution . Guests include guitarists Fred Frith and Leo Kottke as well as Harrison and one-time Stooges saxophonist Steve Mackay. Viva Wisconsin (1999) replacing DeLorenzo). All the 'hits' and more, guest players on horns and piano, and with their teen angst and the political anger of the era all wrapped up. And also... Multi-instrumentalist Brian Ritchie – who has lived in Hobart for almost a decade where he curates the excellent annual MoFo music festival – recorded a number of interesting, experimental albums for SST Records, notably Sonic Temple & Court Of Babylon (1988) which defies most genres. He mentions missionaries in New Zealand, not flatteringly, in Christian For One Day . His solo career (he's a Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman and world music fan) is worth checking out. It's... ummm... different. A band that delivered their best when frenetically live, they captured that energy on this 70-plus minute collection pulled from shows in their homestate in '98 (with drummer Guy Hoffman

MUSIC

Plague Vendor Bloodsweat

White Denim Stiff Even though they always flow with the tasty juice of amazing musos dying to create, it’s cruel but safe to offer that White Denim have never been the same outfit after becoming a four-piece. Gone is the brutal urgency, and instead we have multi-layered noodling akin to early Santana meets southern rock (no, really). A little like the Black Crowes in a funk club; great on paper, but you shouldn’t have to read anything to enjoy the tunes, eh? So much going on, with less impact… how can this be? For newbies to this amazing outfit from Austin, this may indeed set your cotton socks alight; for the seasoned… it’s like Hootie and The Blowfish. Sorry, it’s true. (Create Control) Chris Murray

This sultry little number is a strong yet super seductive slide into relatively mainstream rock and roll for the severely underrated Californian four- piece. Blokey basslines in the appropriately titled Jezabel bleed into the distinctly creepy lo-fi track Ox Blood which, like Chopper , sounds like something Jack White may have reluctantly abandoned on the cutting room floor. Credentials sounds like Refused mashed with Queens Of The Stone Age and it becomes immediately apparent that this is one of the most refreshingly diverse-sounding rock albums to ooze out of California in years. (Epitaph/Warner) Emily Kelly

For more interviews, reviews and overviews from Graham Reid visit www.elsewhere.co.nz

MARCH 2016

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