Down

The Jesus Lizard: “Down” (Touch and Go Records)

Having heard the split single with Nirvana, ‘Puss’/’Oh, the Guilt’, I knew that The Jesus Lizard was a band I wanted to hear more from. Their music grabs you with a brutal intensity, relentless in it’s rapacity.

With Down it is no different. From the first second you are drawn into the spell of wild, hypnotic drum beats and gripping guitar riffs that carry you along on this euphoric roller coaster ride. Recorded by the now legendary Steve Albini, this is their fourth full length album, and probably their finest to date.

A re-worked version of ‘Fly On The Wall’ opens the treasure chest, which features such gems as the curious ‘Destroy Before Reading’, and the bitter cold cruelty of ‘Elegy’: “The acrid stink of your face and mouth . . . just when you’re about to learn to smile again, I’m going to be the one to teach you how to cry.”

The funkily cynical ‘The Best Parts’ sends Down out, with the listener on a mammoth Up.

The music is diverse, tight and packed with raw energy, with styles ranging from the hardest of rock to even a slight tinge of jazz. The lyrics are clever, poetic and hard-hitting (they even borrow from Dante’s Inferno), and are delivered in David Yow’s unique vocal style, sometimes screamingly in-yer-face, sometimes obliquely surreal.

‘Low Rider’ is a spooky instrumental which is hauntingly soporific, constantly ebbing away, enticing you to sleep . . . until it suddenly spirals out of control, building to a crescendo with Yow’s piercing primal scream leaving you about as sleepy as a raver on E.

That’s what The Jesus Lizard are all about. They force you out of aloofness. You can love it or hate it, but you cannot ignore it.

‘Horse’ is another superlative track, the tale of a familial murder, a spellbinding story accompanied by merciless riffs and punchy drum beats.

At times the vocals tend to get drowned out amid the music, but as this only drives you to pump up the volume, perhaps it was done intentionally. The only other criticism I have of Down is it’s length. At just over forty minutes, you are left bewildered all too soon, and immediately press replay to hear it all over again.

If you don’t hear this, I guess you’ll just have to “be content with a less than spicy lifestyle”

I’ll give you one guess where that came from . . .

• Katie Holly