[.ca] Grinderman

From Amazon.co.uk:
Grinderman is the sound of indie rock legends growing old disgracefully, and that is by no means a criticism. From the opening rant of "Get It On," this is an album with all the menace of an angry drunk, dripping with anger and testosterone (as the surfeit of facial hair in the band's interior photo will attest). It could even be the sound of Nick Cave's midlife crisis, but it doesn't matter, because Grinderman rocks. It's the sound of four musicians having a grand time, turning the volume up to 11 and really cutting loose. For that reason, it's the more upbeat tracks here that are probably the best: "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)" with its driving electric organ, the primal urgency of "Depth Charge Ethel," and the strutting album closer "Love Bomb." After all the po-faced seriousness he's displayed in recent years, it's good to know that Cave has rediscovered his sense of humour: "I cleaned the sheets on my bed, I combed the hairs across my head, I sucked in my gut and still she said, 'I don't want to,'" he sings on "No Pussy Blues," with his tongue firmly in cheek (amongst other places). Simply put, Grinderman is a hoot. --Ted Kord

awesome, of course!:
All right, I'm no review writer, but I thought Grinderman definitely deserved one most urgently. It's a great album, all right, we've seen more extreme from these guys, but I'm getting older too. The album is raw and passionate, yet adult and mature enough to please both the angry kid and the bored adult in all of us. If you like Nick Cave, you know you want it, so just get the album already! Grinderman is a safe bet if you ever loved the Bad Seeds: we're talking four Bad Seeds guys here, but be warned, this effort is way more rock and roll than what that band has been releasing in the past years. It might also remind you of the Birthday Party. Cave buzzing on Honey Bee definitely will remind one of him hee-hawing with the Party. But don't tell Grinderman that, eh?, because they are suppose to be evolving. Well, they're definitely rocking, and that's the only thing that matters, really. The album got me tapping on my steering wheel from the first notes of Get It On, and even the odd, Mahna-Mahna like Go Tell the Woman is fine if you don't focus on the melody. Some songs, like Man in The Moon, can't deny their Bad Seed-ness though, and flow a little weirdly with the rest of the album, but that's fine, because the Seeds are loveable too. No gospel here, and barely any piano and violin, as the guys wanted to get away from what they think has become the Bad Seeds sound. Consistently great bass from Martyn Casey, great string contributions and arrangements from Warren Ellis (sorry, I don't know enough about drums to say much about Jim Sclavunos). If you are one of the unfaithful Nick Cave fans who haven't been happy since Nocturama, you'll be pleased to hear how much more electric and post-punk Grinderman is, and that he is playing the electric guitar again. Check him out in Set Me Free: rings a Birthday bell? And Love Bomb, wow! Who even remembered he was so good at it? Also check out the eerie, awesome string section on Electric Alice. The whole song will chill you to the bones the way you know you want to feel when you put on a Nick cave album! Overall, I do think that the album has something for every Nick Cave enthousiast out there, but just No Pussy Blues, Love Bomb and When My Love Comes Down is worth the whole cost of the album, so just get it!

• Get It On
• No Pussy Blues
• Electric Alice
• Grinderman
• Depth Charge Ethel
• Go Tell the Women
• (I Don't Need You To) Set Me Free
• Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)
• Man in the Moon
• When My Love Comes Down
• Love Bomb