Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Music Review: Jello Biafra with the Melvins "Sieg Howdy!"

Who would have expected a second album with two covers and four reworkings of songs from the first album to actually be better than that first album? But, Sieg Howdy! really is heads above the first "Jelvins" album, Never Breathe What You Can't See and that one was pretty damn good itself.

The secret here seems to be that Jello has finally realized that he's recording with the Melvins. Instead of sounding like a slightly tweaked Dead Kennedys, this album sounds like Jello indulging his stoner rock side as much as the Melvins indulge their punk instincts. Jello's always had a secret Marc Bolan inside waiting to sneak out and it's about time it did.

Here he actually starts by indulging his Alice Cooper fixation with a cover of Halo of Flies. The Melvins have actually covered the song before, but it shows off what great musicians they are, and hearing Jello and the Melvins do a nearly-eight minute rock epic scratches an itch I never knew I had.

This flows into a nearly eight minute version of The Lighter Side of Global Terrorism, a song from the first album, but done entirely different here. You can see why Kurt Cobain loved the Melvins so much. Nobody's done better psychadelic punk since the Butthole Surfers.

Lessons in What Not to Become is a great song about trying to figure out how to live your life in a reasonable way without burning out on drugs like so many rock legends or becoming a humorless puritan. It's one of the best songs yet by the band because it's not just a one-joke story.

Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything) is the inevitable attack on the Dead Kennedys and other retro-punk reunion bands. It's hard to blame Jello though, and at least it's a funny song that asks, if the kid from The Courtship of Eddie's Father can sing for the DKs, why not Emmanuel Lewis in the Germs?

Wholly Buy Bull gets at the sludgy genius of the Melvins at a faster tempo. It's perhaps better musically than lyrically though.

Voted Off the Island is a short song performed live about not fitting in or wanting to. And another swipe at the DKs.

Kalifornia Uber Alles is a cover of the DKs classic, with new words about Gov. Ah-nold. Actually, most bands who cover the song change the words, because nobody is too worried about Jerry Brown becoming President these days. So, there's an irony here in Jello bashing the DKs for milking their back-catalog in two of his songs, and then milking that back catalog on the same album. On the other hand, the DKs are lazy enough to play this song live about Jerry Brown! So, Jello's got points for creativity.

Dawn of the Locusts is remixed by Dalek, who brings out the creepy sonic wierdness of the original. Again, it's refreshing to see a Biafra album where the emphasis is on musicianship. With the bizarre vocals, biting satire and intricate musicianship here, it's pretty much as close at Biafra's ever come to Zappa.

Al Jourgenson remixes Enchanted Thoughtfist as a new wavey pop anthem with surprisingly mellow backup vocals, bells and whistles. It comes close to the first Ministry album, or the Christian Lunch EP.

To end the festivities, Toshi Kasai and Dale Crover have remixed Caped Crusader, the creepiest song from the first album, into a demented cartoon with helium backup vocals. The song is already a first-person account of a homicidal religious fanatic, so the overall effect is pretty demented.

Anyway, Sieg Howdy! is a deeply satisfying album that finally allows the "backup band" to hold their own with the biggest mouth in punk. Maybe, with any luck, these Jelvins albums will become regular events, because the two components have begun to really compliment each other.