On their first two albums,
Red Red Meat
built their signature sound by taking the
blues
, filtering it through their druggy
post-punk
sensibilities, and bending it into something that was all their own. But with 1995's
Bunny Gets Paid
,
began twisting their music into new shapes that were all but unrecognizable from the original source materials; one can find bits of
rock
and
if they sift long enough through these shards of sound, but the final product is more of a descent into the maelstrom of
lo-fi
experimentalism.
is a deliberately ramshackle set in which the guitars sound fractured and spare when they aren't roaring within an inch of their lives, the humming of the amps is transformed into an instrument, the keyboards buzz and squawk, primitive string charts rise and fall out of the mix, the rhythms manage to be lethargic and insistent at the same time, and the lyrics rarely make much literal sense but generate a palpable dread that suggests some glorious bum trip captured on tape. In hindsight,
is the logical precursor to the music guitarist
Tim Rutili
, drummer
Ben Massarella
, and bassist
Tim Hurley
would later make with
Califone
(as well as the sort of soundscapes
Brian Deck
would construct as a producer), and there are some moments of freaked-out majesty to behold. But
is a grand experiment, and like many experiments it isn't a complete success; many of these tracks tend to meander as they search for their sonic destination, and while the harder-hitting tracks like
"Rosewood, Wax, Voltz and Glitter"
"Chain Chain"
are more immediately exciting, they lack the sense of musical wanderlust that make
"Gauze"
or the title track compelling even when they get lost in the woods.
was the first leg in a new creative journey for the members of
, and even if the places they would later go have proven more rewarding, there's enough adventure in this music to justify joining them for the trip. ~ Mark Deming