REVIEW: The Jesus Lizard, Down (Touch and Go)
- Martin Bate
The Jesus Lizard's music is a stew of swamp blues, rock and distorted slo-mo rockabilly with touches of country and western and a singer who slurs, screams and gibbers like an abusive drunk. Fans of The Birthday Party would find much to like in this band.
To date, the Jesus Lizard's claim to fame has been a high-charting split single with friends and admirers Nirvana as a prelude to In Utero. This is their first all new material since then, having flirted with the majors and released a live album (_Show) through Warner Brothers only a few months ago. Many seem to think that the time is right for The Jesus Lizard to take a step towards greater things. This, then, is a wasted opportunity.
The first problem I notice here is Steve Albini's production - the vocals may be a little clearer in the mix in places, but the rest of the band seem to get bogged down in sludge and bluster in the middle. Given the sterling work Albini has done with them in the past, this is a surprise. And, given that the Lizard, not being the most catchy of tune-smiths, rely on their dirty bass and chilling guitar to thrill the listener, this is a problem. The upbeat stuff comes out not too badly, but the slower, creepier stuff loses its menace and bite.
Another major problem is that the band aren't making any significant steps forward here either. Sure there's a little more melody here and there, and the song-writing is a little more refined but thats about it.
The first half gets by with some nice variety in pace and sounds, but the second side turns into one long mid-pace thrash-around with things hitting an ultimate low on the awful attempt at a love song that is "Elegy". "The Best Parts" comes in at the final hurdle to rescue things with a bona-fide tune to shine through the morass, but by then its too late.
If it's an introduction to the band you're looking for, then the 'greatest hits' set-list of Show would be better. And if you've got "Goat" and "Liar" then there's really no need to rush out to purchase this similar but inferior collection.
