Happy Days, Sweetheart

It could have been easy for Ethyl Meatplow to go a generic industrial dance route when it came time for the band's one full-length record -- but an astute choice of producer helped make sure its own fractured vision came clear. Barry Adamson, veteran of Magazine and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds, not to mention his own atmospheric, cinematic solo efforts, made sure that the brute, brusque power of the band's work slammed through. Rather than being a Nine Inch Nails clone or anything of the sort, Ethyl Meatplow in its direct power feels akin to the similarly hardcore-punk-inspired crash and bash of Babyland. Napier if anything is the heart of the band, an accomplished and powerful drum player able to hit both direct, danceable beats and more complex but no less fierce performances. His sharp, War-inspired grooves on the sly single "Devil's Johnson," allegedly about crack use but with a somewhat suspicious metaphor, show that Ethyl Meatplow knew how to get out the funk. Sanders and Bozulich, meanwhile, make for an inspired vocal team -- not quite what would happen if X got inspiration from Einsturzende Neubauten instead of the Clash, but close enough. Bozulich's commanding, sassy trashing of the idiots in life and go-to attitude smoke, while hints of her moodier Geraldine Fibbers future crops as well -- consider the slow-burning passion of "Ripened Peach." Sanders' own leering whine and queasy feedback drones make for great entertainment track for track as well. On their own they're compelling, together frankly unstoppable. Mechanistic drones and whines crop up, guest appearances on everything from violin to sax flesh it all out, and an outrageous, string-swept cover of the Carpenters' soft rock monument "Close to You" predates (and easily overtops) similar moves at fame-via-remake by Marilyn Manson and Limp Bizkit. Unfairly forgotten, Happy Days, Sweetheart deserves finding out in the used bins. ~ Ned Raggett