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Dead End
The Newlydeads |
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Wouldn't have had a clue if not for the benefit of the liner notes… Actually that's not true, I do remember reading somewhere, eons ago it seemed, that the former front man for '80s strip-teasers… that's in Hollywood and Glam, but of course. Well here's 2001 and Taime Downe's latest project, light years removed from the former, firmly embracing modernity with an album bred of technological stimulants. I'll admit now that they've been gone a while, Faster Pussycat did some okay stuff in their day-"Bathroom Wall," "Cathouse," and those other fashionable type club faves that had 'em going wild in the streets for a while-though I will say some of their best moments came once the glare of commerciality began to wane around the time when "Whipped" came out and the 1990's slammed the door shut on the last decade's welcoming persona. "Dead End" reveals a darker side to an otherwise giddy personality… through the use of drudged up guitar/industrialized drones, electronic beats and mechanized taunts, it's sometimes hard to believe this isn't something out of the mind of a Reznor. In fact who's to argue it wouldn't be anyway, when seemingly anyone comes out with a Techno-Industrialized record with a dark aura and sordid lyrics, right away it's Reznor's NIN lying at the doorstep. Let's side-step the notion momentarily and focus on the "Night of the Living Dead," and it's catchy Manson-esque vibe with those hallowed vocal ruminations blasting off the background and this quirky girlish-sounding chorus, waylaid with distortion, an absolute mess at the extreme, a catchy Rock tune at least half of the time. In the midst of Downe's bout with breaking the mold, there's some definitely grooving Rock and Roll taking place, entrenched deeply within the confines of the circuitous noise buzzing about-see aforementioned and add "Lipstick," "Sleeping Pill," "Severed," with a bluesy groove and the near ballad-like "Six Feet Deep." So here's the alter ego at play, The Newlydeads. Some will call it a rip-off, others still living in 1993 might call it progress, still others might ignore it altogether and wait for the Pussycat to "kill, kill" again… Taken at face value, it's got its moments, most of the chillier variety, dank, dark and dirty, one would assume, but there's no way to really tell considering the obscured vocals, but then considering the source… The disc fires off its last rounds in impressive style however, after the earlier mood swings died down to an almost dull dread, with the Pitchshifter/Prodigy-styled affair, "Hot Pink Hot Rod," and might we revisit that prior question of uncertainty? They end off by disturbing the long dead Missing Persons' hit "Mental Hopscotch," digging it up, shaking the cobwebs, and doing all sorts of disgraceful things to what was an otherwise pretty dance track-which oddly enough can still be heard during the chorus. Released by Cleopatra Records Review by Vinnie Apicella
[va85@columbia.edu] |