Led by the notorious ANTON NEWCOMBE, the BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE could never be accused of blazing originality. The amorphous psych rock combo has always worn its influences on its collective sleeve – from the ROLLING STONES prior to Beggars Banquet, LOVE and more obscure 60s psych/beat combos to ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, the Paisley Underground and the early shoegazers. It’s Newcombe’s remarkable, sometimes astonishing facility for the perfect marriage of words and tune that have kept the BJM from being just another well-meaning but futile retro psych act.
But the group’s normal shtick was starting to wear around the edges in recent years – a change was clearly needed. It’s 20 years behind the times (which might make it ahead of the inevitable revival), but Newcombe has made the same shift as 80s acidheads like PRIMAL SCREAM and the SHAMEN by diving headfirst into dance music and electronica on Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? With the techno movement that was so new at the time long into its dotage, the BJM sound less like opportunists and more like kids playing with new toys in a fresh sandbox. Groove, atmosphere and soundscapes rule here, and while that shortchanges Newcombe’s inherent songwriting genius (and leads to some unnecessary song lengths), when the record works, it really works. “Tunger Hnifur,” “Super Fucked” (because it wouldn’t be a BJM album without a few gratuitous F-bombs), the relatively brief “Our Time” and “This is the First of Your Last Warning” strike a graceful, entertaining balance between the Paisley Underground and the dance floor without sounding like ORB rip-offs. I’m not sure what to make of “Dekta! Dekta! Dekta!,” which seems to have wandered over from a collection of FALCO outtakes, nor the closing track “Felt Tipped Pictures of UFOs,” which uses sampled speeches from John Lennon and a profane Scottish teenager to at least attempt to answer the titular question, but they feel like part and parcel of the experiment. I’d hate to think that this is the direction Newcombe will be sticking to from now on, but it’s certainly a refreshing alternative to sinking slowly into petrifaction.
http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com
