Aufheben
Brian Jonestown
Massacre
A Records.
No Ripcord Rating: 9
SCQ Rating: 87%
If there’s an
obligatory mention regarding The Brian Jonestown Massacre more tired than
references to the increasingly time-capsuled documentary Dig!, it’s the
assertion that Anton Newcombe makes music 'to do drugs to'. The very
straightforwardness of it almost screams like an English as Second Language
translation, not to mention a backhanded compliment to records as stand-alone
brilliant as Give It Back! and Bravery, Repetition and Noise. Newcombe may
exude an addict’s smoky snarl when surfacing over the mesmerizingly lethargic “Gaz
Hilarant” but he’s actually been sober for over two years, which all but
highlights my main beef with “music to do drugs to”: namely, what music can’t
you do drugs to? An album that’s too sedate? Or bands whose performances are
too high-strung? Or are we really talking about whatever music you don’t like?
By that
understanding, if Aufheben – a German word meaning “to lift up” as well as “to
abolish” – warrants the “drug music” flair on its digi-pack sleeve, it’s
because these eleven songs, under any influence or none, prove very likeable.
Better integrating the world-music interests boasted on 2010’s Who Killed Sgt.
Pepper? to BJM’s classic retro-futurist rock tendencies, Newcombe has
constructed his most level-headed and consistently engaging record since …And
This Is Our Music back in 2003. Of the methodical percussion, subtle 60s bass
breakdowns and dreamy vibes floating overtop, “I Want to Hold Your Other Hand”
validates Newcombe as a still convincing prodigy on days he’s disinterested in
chaos and destruction. Disciplined songwriting echoes that good behaviour during
other mid-tempo head-grooves like “The Clouds Are Lies” and “Stairway To the
Best Party In the Universe”, the latter deserving a place in the batter’s box
of any forthcoming BJM hits collection.
Don’t mistake Newcombe’s
good behaviour for playing it safe though, as Aufheben teases these mellow,
Krautrock tunes between scores of exotic string-arrangements and left-field
instrumentals. Not terribly unlike Sgt. Pepper’s opener “Tempo 116.7”, “Panic
In Babylon” sets the tone with an urgent drum-beat, Eastern horns and a
palpable sense of good old-fashioned, old-world dread while “Face Down On the
Moon” opts for a more meditative slice of lead flute and sitar harmonics. Match
these instrumentals with “Viholliseni Maalla”, a potent dream-pop collaboration
with vocalist Eliza Karmasalo, and Aufheben balances well the alien and expected
poles of one stunning vista.
Perhaps more
importantly, the tumultuous outfit’s thirteenth full-length makes a persuasive
bid to those still clamoring over Dig! highlights, insisting that The Brian
Jonestown Massacre have survived their own implosion. Having concreted a new
core of top-notch musicians who can handle his personality (Spaceman 3’s Will
Carruthers and BJM veteran Matt Hollywood), Newcombe’s forging ahead with
Aufheben, making “out there” music reliant on no fan’s opinions, no record
company’s advances and no instant magic from a ziplock bag. In other words, a brave new world.
(This review was originally published on No Ripcord...)
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