Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!” (Anti-) [4 STARS]
Although long-running Australian cult hero Nick Cave has never produced anything without merit, it was hard to imagine how his 14th studio album with the sprawling collective known as the Bad Seeds could top last year’s self-titled disc by his one-off, mostly-for-yucks side project Grinderman, a deliriously grungy burst of blues-rock brilliance. No, “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!” doesn’t better my choice for the best album of 2007. But it is the strongest Bad Seeds disc since the potent one-two punch of “The Boatman’s Call” and “No More Shall We Part” in 1997 and 2001, and it does find the 50-year-old singer as vital as ever at an age where, as the British newspaper the Guardian noted, “Paul McCartney released ‘Off the Ground’ [and] Bob Dylan was favoring the world with ‘Wiggle Wiggle.’”
Fans who worried that the Bad Seeds would loose some of their intensity with the departure of veteran guitarist Blixa (Einsturzende Neubauten) Bargeld -- which seemed to be the case on “Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus” (2004), a moody and orchestral double-disc epic -- will be surprised to find that Cave’s replacement foil and Grinderman partner Warren Ellis has only made the singer more focused and concise. The violinist and multi-instrumentalist brings out the nastiest in Nick, spurring him on to greater outrage and a more awesome noise, much as John Cale does with Lou Reed. That duo’s first band has been an influence on Cave since he first surfaced as the vocalist for the Birthday Party, but he’s never been closer to matching the Velvet Underground’s peerless mix of primal aggression and pop seduction, and he cops to that being the goal on “Today’s Lesson,” with lyrics that reference three Velvets songs and music that cribs from at least that many, with plenty of Stooges thrown in for good measure.
Lyrically, some critics are saying that what “Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus” was to Cave’s fascination with Dickensian England, “Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!” is to his obsession with the darkest corners of American mythology. But the fact is the artist has always been fascinated with this country’s backwaters (“Saint Huck” was the centerpiece of the first Bad Seeds album in 1984), especially where they intersect with his favorite book, the Old Testament. And if all of that sounds like familiar turf for Cave, well, his piercing literary wit has never been sharper. Witness the backhanded compliments and/or insults tossed at three great American writers in just one couplet of “Call Upon the Author”: “Bukowski was a jerk! Berryman was best!/He wrote like wet papier mache, went the Heming-way weirdly on wings and with maximum pain/We call upon the author to explain!”
In the end, if any disc this side of “Grinderman” can make you laugh harder while banging your head more in a lustful frenzy, I’d sure be eager to hear it.
Comments
I'll be honest, Jim... I'm still waiting for a relatively new artist to impress me as much as old farts like Nick Cave and R.E.M. have this year. Bon Iver's come the closest, and I've yet to hear the M83 record The Onion's AV Club raved about recently; but the old guys are standing up.
But really, did you HAVE to remind me of "Wiggle Wiggle" again? The last five Dylan records have helped me forget about the late '80s and early '90s...
Posted by: Brendan D, Niles, IL | April 16, 2008 08:40 AM
Nick Cave's lyrics, vocals and music are commendable. I do need to repeat that "The Church" is the most dynamic Australian band. Their ethereal, dreamy, haunting and elaborate albums are nonpareil.
Posted by: Brien Comerford | April 16, 2008 10:29 AM