Aphex Twin (L); Thee Headcoats (R)
| earwax
Royal Trux Sweet Sixteen (Virgin) Royal Trux used to be a strung-out bunch of city dwellers who made accordingly noisy, drug-influenced rock. But last reports have the band's core, singer Jennifer Herrema and guitarist Neil Hagerty, cleaned up and living in the relative calm of rural Virginia. Perhaps the change of scenery has had a profound effect on the band, or perhaps someone has invented the methadone patch. Regardless, the thirteen songs herein take on a decidedly southern feel, fluctuating between gospel and country-rock twang. Toss RT's signature sleaze rock into the still and you?ve got some strange moonshine. Hagerty's guitar swirls like a Hammond B-3 on the title track and apparently the band has (re)discovered pot, as no less than three tracks reference the kinder, gentler hallucinogen. Sweet Sixteen is a radical departure with obvious similarities to Blind Melon and Phish. There's still plenty of spacey pedal work, plodding rock riffs, and Herrema's laryngitic growl is still Herrema's laryngitic growl. RT's trademark slimy film coats the album, but here it's more like an oil slick on a dirt road.
The Memphis Goons Teenage BBQ (Shangri-La) Original reel-to-reels of the Memphis Goons were never actually lost, they were merely lying in wait. Now, 25 years after the band home-taped Teenage BBQ, Shangri-La is disseminating it to the masses, some of whom may even be prepared for the gonzo garage rock it contains. Drawing on influences from Beefheart and Bangs, from Stockhausen and the Spoonful, the Goons crafted an utterly unique noise that is by turns soulful, monotonous, demented, and beautiful. While the band was clearly ahead of its time, these songs are nicely dated by a lack of the self-conscious irony that today infuses even the mainstream. Be forewarned: Teenage BBQ collects only the numbers that were deemed "accessible" by the label. The Memphis Goons actually recorded hundreds of hours of material - enough, they say, for ten CDs. Keep your ears open for still more daring releases in the coming year. - Chris Nelson
Aphex Twin Richard D. James (Elektra) There's certainly been a lot said lately about the rhythmic possibilities that electronic music entails, and while Aphex Twin may be a name frequently mentioned in conjunction with the innovative electronic vision of the musical world, the prodigious producer's Richard D. James is evidence that the future hasn't quite arrived. Aphex Twin's strong point has always been his diverse rhythmic arrangements, but James is bit of a muddle, frankly - 15 tracks that are, for the most part, too short to develop any identity. They lose the Twin's undeniable melodic sense beneath a rippling churn of super-speedy beats. While the album has its moments - the artist's debut vocal track "milkman" and the "Girl/Boy Song" chief among them - James disappoints, sounding more like the soundtrack to Super Mario Brothers than that of a Brave New World. We can only hope that the future, electronic or otherwise, is a a little more coherent than this. - Ben Dietz
Thee Headcoats Knights of the Baskervilles (Birdman) With the possible exception of David Bowie, Billy Childish is the most prolific shape-shifter in British popular music. Poet, author and head jokester for at least five pop/punk/blues outfits in the last decade, Childish's latest with Thee Headcoats, Knights of the Baskervilles, is a conglomeration of Sir William's prior incarnations, running the gamut of British pop styles of the last three decades. "She's in Disguise" takes on Buzzcocksian proportions. "What You See is What You Are" mixes the jangle and pop of the Kinks with the reckless irreverence of the late 70s punk explosion, while the title track sends up white boy blues a la John Mayall. But this is more than mere genre replication . Childish weaves a menacing An American Werewolf in London type yarn throughout, complete with references to the moors and mad-ass mongrels. Consider this required listening for your first Brit-pop survey course. |