Jesus Lizard

Variety, variety, variety.......how about some fucking JESUS LIZARD? Formed from the ashes of Scratch Acid, certainly THIS won't be for everyone, Jesus Lizard are/were vocalist David Yow, bassist David Wm Sims, guitarist Duane Denison, and drummer Mac McNeilly.......it will come as no surprise that Steve Albini has his fingrprints on this either (See: previous Big Black post, etc)....one claim to fame is they released a split single with Nirvana which includes a fairly rare Nirvana track, "Oh, the Guilt" (included here, despite my frequently mentioned dislike of splits).....

Jesus Lizard, originally from Texas and reloated to Chicago,   cranked out a very abrassive/obnoxious blend of punk/noise, it's loud, and Yow's drunken vocals are often inaudible under the din, but it is often effective. Their 1991 debut "Goat" (cleverly, all their albums have four-letter titles.......like oh, wow, man)......it has it's moments ("Rodeo in Joliet", "Mouth Breather"), and some true beleivers call it their fave......two earlier EP's ("Head" and "Pure" are combined on a full length CD, fairly interesting tracks such as "Rabid Pigs" and "Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along" are bured under the sludgy mix and are, as stated, interesting, if fairly unlistenable.

1992's "Liar" is my pick as their career "highlight", if that is the terminology I'm looking for, lyrics like "Misery fucks you in the ass over and over" drive the point home if nothing else (as stated before, Kurt Cobain was afan which led to the split single).....if  you want just one Jesus Lizard disc, "Liar" is probably it I guess. "Lash"(EP) and "Show" both document the bands sort-of legendary live shows....they are kind of rough, to say the least, but I would assume they replicate the experience fairly well (never saw them myself)........

1994's Down s supposed to be a return to thier Texas roots, a few rockabilly-type touches and the like, but again, it is Yow's psychotic vocals that dominate the show. "Shot', the next effort shows the decline phase setting in, allegedly, if you listen hard, you can hear on of the tracks from it in the greatest movie ever made, 1995's "Clerks".

They released a 10" EP, going way out there for a title ("10" EP"), with a few odds and ends on it, most of which would turn upon the next release "Blue". It's not a bd album, really, if you dig these guys, you won't want to be without it, although the glory days were long gone. They prety much called it a day after that, "Bang" is a respectable career retrospective. We've evn got a Peel Session...

Never my VERY favorite, but I enjoyed this tuff from time to time, sloppy and deliberatley offensive.....wish I'd maybe have seen one of their super-rowdy live shows, but it was not to be.....I think they are pretty much forgotten about today, already, and they do deserve a better legacy than that.....

Let me know what you think, as usual, especially if you are new to this......Variety, variety, variety?

GOAT-01 Then Comes Dudley/02 Mouth Breather/03 Nub/04 Seasick/05 Monkey Trick/06 Karpis/07 South Mouth/08 Lady Shoes/09 Rodeo In Joliet

HEAD/PURE-01 One Evening/02 SBDJ/03 My On Urine/04 If You Had Lips/05 7 vs 8/06 Pastoral/07 Waxeater/08 Good Thing/09 Tight N Shiny/10 Killer McKann/11 Blockbuster/12 Bloody Mary/13 Rabid Pigs/14 Starlet/15 Happy Bunny Goes Fluff Fluff Along

LIAR-01 Boliermaker/02 Gladiator/03 The Art of Self Defense/04 Slave Ship/05 Puss/06 Whirl/ 07 Rope/08 Perk/09 Zacariah/10 Dancing Naked Ladies

LASH (EP)-01 Glamorous/02 Deaf as a bat/03 Lady Shoes (Live) 04 Kille McHann (Live)/05 Bloody Mary (live)/ 07 Monkey Trick (Live)

DOWN-01 Fly On The Wall/02 Misletoe/03 Countless Backs Of Sad Losers/04 Queen For a Day/05 The Associates/06 Destroy Before Reading/07 Low Rider/08 50 Cents/09 American BB/10 Horse/11 Din/12 Elegy/13 The Best Parts

SHOW-01 Glamorous/02 Deaf as a Bat/03 Seasick/04 Bloody Mary/05 Missletoe/06 Nub/07 Elegy/08 Killer McHann/09 Dancing Naked Ladies/10 Fly On the Wall/11 Boilermaker/12 Puss/13 Gladiator/14 Wheelchair Epidemic/15 Monkey Trick

SHOT-01 Thumper/02 Blue Shot/03Thumbscrews/04 Good Riddance/05 Mailman/06 Skull of a German/07 Trephenation/08 More Beautifu Than Barbie/09 Too Bad About the Fire/10 Churl/11 Now Then/12 Inamorata/13 Pervetedly Slow

10" EP-01 Cold Water/02 Infected By Hounds/03 Eyesore/04 Valentines/05 Needles For Teeth

BLUE-01 I Can Learn/02 Horse doctor Man/03 I Can Learn/04 A Tale of Two Women/05 Cold Water/06 And Then the Rain/07 Postcoital Glow/08 Until It Stopped Die/09 Soft Damage/10 Happy Snakes/11 Needles For Teeth/12 Terremotto

BANG-01 Chrome/02 7 Vs 8/03 Gladiator/04 Seasick/05 Wheelchair Epidemic/06 Dancing Naked Ladies/07 Mouth Breather/08 Sunday You Need Love/09 Glamorous/10 Deaf as a Bat/11 Lady Shoes/12 Killer McHann/13 Bloody Mary/14 Monkey Trick/15 Uncommonly Good/16 The Test/17 Blockbuster/18 Fly On the Wall/19 White Hole/20 Anna

PEEL SESSION 1991-92-01 Wheelchair Epidemic/02 Bloody Mary/03 Seasick/04 Monkey Trick/05 Gladiator/06 Whirl/07 Puss/08 Boilermaker

SPLIT SINGLE WITH NIRVANA-01 JESUS LIZARD-Puss/02 NIRVANA-Oh, the Guilt



Links forthcoming.....