I’ve spent a lot of time with two would-be badass albums over the last month: Grinderman, the boys’ night out stooge-fest by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Heartless Bastards’ album, Stairs and Elevators. Both albums come out of the gates looking for a rumble, which is fine by me in these 8-piece, grad school folkie times.
“Gray” kicks off the Heartless Bastards album, throwing down a 2-chord gauntlet and making full use of the throaty, 4 Non Blondes’ chick-like lead vocals of dynamo Erika Wennerstrom. The first time I played it in my car I kept inching up the volume, feeling certain I’d reach new song nirvana. Damn, a chorus into the song I felt like pulling up to some asshole at a red light and pummeling him for the sport of it! As the song went on and the inevitable scorching solo section presented itself, however, no one stepped to the fore. OK, was this a deliberate act of post-punk economy and reserve? I tried to play along with the new economy, but every time one of these back-alley songs, such as “New Resolution” and “The Will Song”, came on and I anticipated a stock Johnny Thunders lead part or a Ron Ashton-inspired fuzz-wah solo there was nothing more than a few empty measures. I was reminded of my long-held belief that rock trios are usually a sign of a dysfunctional and socially inept set of musicians. In the case of Heartless Bastards, however, the powerful lead singer is a rudimentary and lone rhythm guitar player. Her drummer and bassist are adequate and committed but not enough for support in a dark alley. Somebody get Ms. Wennerstrom a lead guitarist who can provide that extra muscle that this band’s music so badly requires.
Grinderman, on the other hand, is a visceral blast, an aesthetes’ toy chest of sexuality, brutality, sinning, fuzz-wah solos, and raunchy humor. Leave the women and children at home, my brothers, as well as the poetry, the screenplays, and the piano! Cave sports a badass Fu Manchu for this short album, and his bandmates wear the full he-man beards of their penal colony forefathers. “Get It On” opens the album with Cave’s Mr. Mojo Risin’ voodoo preacher schtick and chain gang backing vocals from his bandmates. It’s more of the same in the album’s single, “No Pussy Blues”. In this song, when I expect to hear an orgasmic guitar solo I do! The album maintains this late-80s Aussie garage vibe through songs like “Electric Alice”, “Honey Bee (Let’s Fly to Mars)”, and “Depth Charge Ethel”, the latter the most fun song I’ve ever heard from Cave. Despite all the macho artifice, this quartet’s ready to rumble.
Sorry you’re getting lousy mileage on The Heartless Bastards, KingEd. I think they’re pretty cool, and I suppose I don’t need Erika to have another guitar player. She sounds like three people to me, just because I don’t think anything ever dies out. She hits a chord and it just sustains through the next four measures. Her sound check was one of the coolest blasts of distortion I’ve ever witnessed. She spent about four minutes hitting a few pedals and then just getting this wall of chords going, and she goes up to the mic with all this noise bouncing around everwhere and says, “I’m good – we can start.” I thought it was cool. Live her drummer is almost comically unreal. She’s about 4′ 10″ tall, and he’s like offensive lineman big and plays a drum kit that’s like my preteen nephew’s practice kit. I thought he’d bust it for sure. The bass player can get an entire cigarette to turn to one, long, bent ash. I’m pretty sure that’s proof of his rock n’ roll collness and the sign of a highly skilled bass player.
I’ve got a friend that said Erika’s lyrics read like her high school journal, but she really liked the line about “my virtue is well past it’s curfew,” and some others. Lyrically I’m okay with just a few good lines. It’s rock n’ roll music, after all. You don’t even need to be intelligible. Erika has a big voice and I love her guitar sound. I kind of think a lead guitar player dropping some standard Johnny Thunders leads wouldn’t help too much, but then again I like plenty of bands with just two people in them, and almost no bands that have over five. I really like Autonomy and Swamp Song.
Nick Cave has always been hard for me to get my head around. Grinderman may actually change that, cuz I really like No Pussy Blues. I’ve picked it up a few times (actually last time I was in the store I bought Artimus Pyledriver instead – I’m pretty sure that was a fuckup of mammoth proportions). Maybe I’ll grab it next time.
Check out that Grinderman CD, 2000 Man. It’s not a classic, but it’s a lot of fun and many jams are kicked out. I wish I could get more out of Heartless Bastards. Erika’s very good, and the songs are on the right track. I’ll keep an ear open to new releases. Looks like they have a newer album that repeats much of the material from the first album.