The Jesus Lizard : Rack
Appropriately enough for Treble’s ’90s month, and coinciding with the Oasis reunion that has generated all kinds of discussion and debate in the UK, September marks the return to recorded music for another band who were as central to ’90s noise rock as Oasis were to Britpop: The Jesus Lizard. The band’s influence can be heard today in bands such as METZ, Chat Pile, tunic, KEN mode, Pissed Jeans, exhalants, WHORES., and virtually any noise rock band you care to name with mostly indecipherable, caterwauling vocals and bass pleasurably high up in the mix. Although they experienced a couple of departures toward the end of their initial run, the lineup of David Yow on vocals, Duane Denison on guitar, David Wm. Sims on bass, and Mac McNeilly delivered most of their heralded work. It’s also the lineup that created their first new album in 26 years, Rack.
While the first four Jesus Lizard albums, all released on Touch and Go and engineered by late, great friend of the band Steve Albini, are classic noise rock records that contain enduring songs like “Then Comes Dudley” and “Boilermaker,” the band slightly diverged from that pummeling approach when they signed to Capitol and released two more polished, vocal-focused albums. Although their initial appeal was niche, the band did experience some crossover commercial success due to noise rock’s adjacency to the early-to-mid-’90s grunge scene, with fourth album Down and Nirvana split-single “Puss” both entering the UK charts. Rack, released through Ipecac, represents the first time younger fans of the band will have gotten to experience a new release from them as an extant band, and for older fans, it will be the first time they have heard any new music from them since 1998’s Blue.
It is also a record that satisfies the anticipation leading up to it. Opening lead single “Hide & Seek” is a fast, hard-driving, abrasive slab of noisy rock ‘n’ roll that lets you know you’re in for a fun ride. “Armistice Day” and “Alexis Feels Sick” show the band still have the talent to pull off slower material. While Yow’s vocals are louder in the mix than they were on the band’s early material, they remain just as raspy and atonal. Denison’s riffing is equally powerful in any tempo, but when he plays in a softer, more melodic style on songs like “What If,” it sounds self-confident and uncontrived, which wasn’t always the case with some of the gentler playing on the last two Jesus Lizard albums. McNeilly’s cymbal-bashing on “Grind,” “Lord Godiva” and “Falling Down” is powerful and effective, and Sims’ earworm bassline on “Alexis Feels Sick” will rattle around your head long after the song ends.
“Falling Down,” “Dunning Kruger,” and “Moto(R)” are all fast, compact, fun noise rock songs in the vein of “Hide & Seek” that have the kind of energy fit for live performances. Though the first half of the album perhaps demonstrates the band’s playing abilities better, these are the three songs on the record where the band sound like they’re having the most fun making music together after a protracted absence from doing so. Sims’ and Denison’s playing styles again come to the fore on “Is That Your Hand?”, the latter’s riffing in places recalling the slightly haunting, eerie quality it assumed on the band’s early classic, “Monkey Trick.” They maintain this quality on album closer “Swan The Dog,” before erupting into its furious choruses.
Rack is a creative success. The Jesus Lizard have only sharpened their talents as musicians and songwriters in the decades since they last recorded together. They are clearly still as tight as ever in delivering their signature noise rock sound, and more importantly, they sound like they’re enjoying it, which was not always the case on some of their past albums. 2024’s best 90s comeback? You’d better believe it.
Label: Ipecac
Year: 2024
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The Jesus Lizard : Rack
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