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David Cronenberg's Wife

Started by 23 Daves, August 30, 2008, 02:51:41 PM

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23 Daves

David Cronenberg's Wife's debut album "Bluebeard's Rooms" was released a couple of weeks ago to rave reviews in certain quarters (and rather uncertain ones from others, admittedly) but already it looks as if it might be one of those records which slips by entirely unnoticed.  So, in order to counter this particular issue, I thought I'd start a thread about it.

Whilst I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a classic, it's certainly one of the more interesting releases of 2008.  It's a very raw, primal record in places, with elements of bands like The Monks and Suicide (and even Clinic) apparent within its grooves, along with a unique sense of scruffy smalltown bleakness.  Almost all the lyrics reference provincial outsiders, misfits and ne'er-do-wells.  "Coming To Your Hometown" could be talking about a paedophile, but then again if it had been heard by a different audience in 1965, could be about a different issue altogether.  The band never actually spell it out for the listener:

I'm coming to your hometown/ where nobody knows my name... Lock up your sons, lock up your daughters/ you don't have to do all that/ All you men in your beanie hats/ put down your baseball bats".

That one has been uploaded here:

http://sharebee.com/e5fc18c9

It's lead some critics to call it a "depressing listen", but I think there's a lot of subversive and crafty humour there as well, especially apparent in the lyrically savage track "I Do Know" which seems to ask a lover to measure how much she feels for her partner by how much abuse she would be willing to take before calling the relationship a day.  It's considerably more intelligent than Lou Reed's "Sad Song", that's for sure.

There are moments when the band seem to be trying too hard to be all noughties and """Dark""", and those moments are precisely the reason why I think this album is flawed - but it's also got a definite identity of its own, a coherent and engaging theme, and also ch**ks of intelligence throughout, besides having a furious energy in places.  For all those reasons, I reckon it's one of the best albums of this year, but don't bank on that being acknowledged anywhere in the year-end polls.

Their last single (and lead track from the album) "Runaway Pram" can also be found below.  It's ace:

http://sharebee.com/eeb6d620

Small Man Big Horse

I stumbled across their myspace page a couple of weeks back, I wasn't expecting too much due to their choice of name, but quite enjoyed what I heard. A couple of the songs were a bit Nick Cave-esque, but others really caught my attention - I can't remember the name of the track but the rather frantic one about how he can't ejaculate amused me a fair bit especially.

23 Daves

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on August 30, 2008, 04:03:00 PM
I stumbled across their myspace page a couple of weeks back, I wasn't expecting too much due to their choice of name, but quite enjoyed what I heard. A couple of the songs that I heard were a bit Nick Cave-esque, but others really caught my attention - I can't remember the name of the track but the rather frantic one about how he can't ejaculate amused me a fair bit.

That would be "I Couldn't Get Off".  That's not one of the stronger tracks on the album by any means, but is still good.  There are shades of Nick Cave about them, but you could throw The Fall, Jeffrey Lewis, The Moldy Peaches, Clinic, PiL, The Velvet Underground, The Monks, and just about any "left field" act (apart from Leftfield themselves) into their list of influences, I think.  They seem to have absorbed a lot of different styles and made it something of their own. 

I heard about them a while ago but like so many new 'buzz bands' that get touted around by the likes of Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound  I just hope they take some time and work on who they are and what they want to sound like, too many bands are rushing out their first album and diluting their potential with half arsed filler or ripping off obscure art rock from the 80's.