Though UO's last album outing, the pop classic that is Saturation, still sounds as fresh as ever over two years after its release, in many long-term Urge-fans' opinion, it never quite matched the soul and personality of their pre-Geffen outings. And reading between the lines of recent Urge interviews, it seems that the band themselves may be of the same opinion, so how has all that affected their second Geffen release, Exit The Dragon?
Since joining "the big leagues," a lot has happened to Urge - not least the suicide of their close friend and mentor, Kurt Cobain - and this is reflected in the more thoughtful tone of Exit. That said, the band have always had a compassionate side, and in fact one of the tracks - the moving "View Of The Rain" - was recorded back when Saturation had barely made the stores. Joined at first by a simple acoustic guitar and electric piano backing, Nash Kato's rich vocal asks if any of us really know ourselves: "Take a walk beside yourself, get to know the person behind the face, is it someone you can really love?", the arrangement gradually adding a string section, a sitar and other instruments to an emotional conclusion.
By contrast the album opener - "Jaywalkin'" - is led by a sinuous guitar riff, the chorus getting funked up with some dirty, low-down Clavinet. Determined to leave this album as spontaneous as possible, much was recorded one-take, and in the case of the Fripp-like guitar "solo" of this song, almost non-take... guitarist/bassist King Roeser was running through the song to find a suitable tone but it sounded so great they just left it as is. Funny lyrics abound, as in "I can walk with kings, I can walk with queens ... I can walk the walk with Johnny Cash, I can really walk the line".
"The Break" (to be the band's American single) proves that UO's jukebox goes back further than the '70s in that there is a distinct Stones vibe and the backwards-sounding guitar solo evokes Hendrix. That said, the way the song is put together is pure Urge. Another rocker, "Honesty Files", takes a sidewards glance at the chords of "Gimme Shelter", though again the song is uniquely Urge - it's a long time since Jagger sang with as much conviction as King Roeser does here. In fact Mr Roeser surpasses himself on this album - there's a true confidence in his vocals.
Other potential singles include "Need Some Air", a quirky, catchy pop song with the same kind of choppy feel as "Woman 2 Woman" from the previous album and is the favourite of many listeners. "Somebody Else's Body" - already planned as the first worldwide single - isn't as immediate, but it's a definite grower and the brass-accompanied chorus is so infectious. Personally, I'd have selected "Monopoly" as the surest chart hit, from its impossibly optimistic-sounding main riff, to Nash Kato's wonderful vocal.
Fans of the heavier UO need look no further than "This Is No Place" is introduced by a heavy tom-tom beat, the guitars almost Alice Cooper in their menace, and with UO's trademark skip-a-(heart)beat rhythm. The two-part "Last Night/ Tomorrow" is sure to be an in-concert favourite - King opens the song with a typically UO lost-the-girl lyrics "I've lost my soulmate again/I'm lost/console me again", Nash closing the song at boogie pace. "And You'll Say" is an amazing combination of a heavy riff with, at times, really intimate vocals.
Blackie's "The Mistake" is the sorry tale of an rockstar seriously overindulging themselves to help ease the boredom of life on the road. It's a pretty serious message, though UO irony is never far away - "It's a catchy song, it's number one. Too bad you had overdosed."
Opening with almost folky, droning chords, "Tin Foil" is a beautiful, intensely moving, falling-out-of-love song. With King Roeser's fragile vocals sounding suitably hurt - "I know where you've been; so what's the matter with asking?" - it is in many ways, one of his finest moments on record. A true Urge classic.
With the same hymn-like quality of "Let It Be" or Joe Cocker's version of "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Digital Black Epilogue" is a string-accompanied soulful duet between Nash Kato and a young lady called Penica who just happened to be recording at the same studios. Midway through the song's nine-minutes, the already powerful song takes on epic dimensions: Introduced by a military drum beat from Blackie and a half-singing/half-talking cameo from Liz Phair, the song takes off Sgt Pepper-style into a huge wall of relentless swirling strings and distorted guitars. As many times as I've listened to it already, I still can't avoid it giving me a shiver-down-the-spine. I don't think I can beat Blackie Onassis' own description of the song - "it's like the world collapsing in on itself" - it really does leave you breathless.
With the extra time afforded by the CD format, many bands run out of steam trying to make up an hour of music - there may be 40-minutes of great songs, but the rest of the tracks are basically filler. Not so Exit The Dragon - there isn't a weak song on the whole album and the hour of music contained on the disc goes all too soon.
Due to be released in the United States on September 26.
