Rack (Ipecac Exclusive)＜限定盤/Maroon Vinyl＞

One of the most boldly physical and uncompromising bands on the 1990s underground scene, the Jesus Lizards recording career curiously ended not with a bang, but a whimper. After cutting four albums for revered indie label Touch & Go Records -- 1990s Head, 1991s Goat, 1992s Liar, and 1994s Down -- they made the jump to Capitol Records, and really, who wouldnt want the chance to be labelmates with the Beatles, Helen Reddy, and Bloodrock? But by accident or design, the Jesus Lizards move to a major label coincided with their split with engineer and superfan Steve Albini, whose dry, forceful recording was a near-perfect match for the groups limber, noisy, and freakishly precise attack. While 1996s Shot and 1998s Blue are better than their reputation suggests, GGGarths work on the former sanded off some of their sharper edges, which did not flatter the music, and Andy Gills attempts to add atmospheric soundscapes on the latter was an interesting idea that simply didnt work. Twenty-five years after their initial breakup and following several reunion tours that confirmed they were playing every bit as well as in their prime, the Jesus Lizard have rewritten the final chapter of their story with a seventh studio album, 2024s Rack, that is everything Shot and Blue were not. The records for Capitol were the sound of a group looking for something different without being sure just what it should be; Rack is a bold, confident reclamation of their strengths as a band and as songwriters. Though Steve Albini didnt work on Rack (and he died four months before it was released), Paul Allens production and engineering in many respects follows Albinis example. The audio is rich, clear, and well-detailed, and the production style is thankfully unobtrusive, content to capture a crack band doing what they do. While keyboards discretely appear on the whispery "What If?" and "Armistice Day" leaves more open space than one might expect, Rack plays like the full-bore follow-up to Liar, as Duane Denisons acrobatic, razor-wire guitar chugs and peals, bassist David Wm. Sims and drummer Mac McNeilly hold down the rhythms with inspiring muscle and timing, and frontman David Yow populates the songs with a rogues gallery of wired eccentrics, interpreted with a presence thats witty and unnerving. (No wonder he became a character actor.) Some might be disappointed that the Jesus Lizard didnt attempt to reinvent themselves for their grand return to the studio, but at their finest this band did something no one else has ever quite matched, and they did it brilliantly. Twenty-six years after they last made a studio album, Rack is living, breathing, sweaty proof the Jesus Lizard can write songs and give them shape in the studio just as well as they ever did, and it honestly stands beside the best of their Touch & Go catalog in both spirit and execution. And they still hit like a crescent wrench to the face. Which is a compliment. ~ Mark Deming

ライヴ活動を再開しながら、一向に新作を作ろうとしなかったシカゴの4人組がついにニュー・アルバムをリリース。前作から実に26年ぶりながら、フリーキーでグルーヴィーなロック・サウンドはいまなお健在。ジャンク・ロックなる言葉と共に90年代のロック・シーンの最前線に躍り出てきた頃のスリルをふたたび味わいながら、レッド・ツェッペリンの色濃い影響を改めて知る。
bounce (C)山口智男