Viva La Arthouse

Frankie N.W. Stubbs is such a calming-friendly, drolly funny guy with smiling eyes, one often wonders where the awe-inspiring passion comes from. Without histrionics -- aside from the carefree "Frankie shuffle" he taps out when doing leads -- one is nevertheless overcome by his heart-on-sleeve, gravelly, Lemmy-like wail and the sizzling guitar riffs and licks he and fellow original foil Dickie Hammond dole out like a much tighter Husker Du. The fearsome Sunderland, England foursome has long deserved a ridiculously ashen live album, and the molten Live in Melbourne, recorded headlining Poison City Records' Down Under Weekender Festival on September 18, 2010, is one at last. As exciting as their Brooklyn Knitting Factory blowout on March 5, 2010, it's better than Live in Oslo or their split album with Jawbox, Your Choice Live Series, two 1995 releases that eulogized their older lineup's breakup before the re-formation circa 1998. It's remarkable how searing they remain with a refreshed rhythm section, missing departed drummer Andrew Laing or deceased Andy Crighton (kudos to quick, heavy bassist Graeme Philliskirk), while leaning on their two greatest albums, 19 years apart. Whether flooring 1991 Mush classics "I Want the Moon" (still), "Not a Day Goes By," "Springtime," "Not Superstitious," "Dead Industrial Atmosphere," and "Peasant in Paradise," or muscular The Stormy Petrel morsels like "Never Say Goodbye," "God Is Dead," "My World's End," "Broken," "Nutcase," or the protest slasher "Diego Garcia" (or betwixt high points like the Ruts-like "Little White God" and "Pale Moonlight"), live Leatherface is a hurricane of emotion, introspection, firepower, and hooks. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover|