Acoustic Dead! And with a new keyboard player, it was now time for not just one, but two live double LP's in very short time frame (four months). But then again, the material was drawn from the same run of performances. This was fine and all – the only real thing I noticed was the setting brought out the ever-growing weariness in Garcia's voice. Totally for the fans, casual interlopers not so much.
What a strange record this was – and still is, to this day. I guess they could have been lumped in with that whole "riotgrrrl" deal but then again I believe the material was mostly composed by the male lead guitarist so not sure how that would go over. In any case, Daisy Chainsaw's debut record had a unique vibe all its' own, thanks to lead singer KatieJane Garside (who I always thought put posers like Marilyn Manson to shame) and the aforementioned Crispin Gray and his own indescribable guitar style. Some of the songs weren't even songs – more like the crazed ravings of mad people off their meds ("Lovely Ugly Brutal World") – and the material that was coherent ranged from mischievously threatening ("I Feel Insane") to downright destructive ("Hope Your Dreams Come True"). Incredibly, "Love Your Money" was fairly catchy and actually sort of a hit, despite the deprecating lyrics, and quite a few songs here were of the ear worm variety once you stripped all the noise trappings away from them. Obviously, not for everyone, but this was easily of the 90's most sorely overlooked records.
The one area the Stranglers 3rd record ups the ante from the first two is tone. This was the most "punk" toned record they made to this point. Right from the first guitar and drum blast of "Tank" it's clear - the majority of BAL was up-tempo, and more important, uncompromising. The only trace of raunchy innuendo was on the second track "Nice 'n' Sleazy", but even that felt more serious and threatening than any previous works. Stuff like "Sweden", "Hey! (Rise of the Robots)", and the ominous album ender "Enough Time" typify this bleak yet thrilling effort. And so does the stark cover art, too. Not enough is going to fall in love with it, but for my money they hit a definite peak on this record.
Strange how in the year of punk the Stranglers put out 2 records and a lot of the music on them was definitely not restrained by the punk genre. A lot of people call this one better than the debut but not me, even though it's a worthy successor. Arguably, their signature song is here (the title track, which conjures both New Wave and the spirit of Ray Manzarek all at once), but there's plenty more. As usual, there's ruthless wide-ranging parodies abound, from current affairs ("Something Better Change"), sex ("Bring on the Nubiles"), education ("School Mam"). If anything, they often go too far, sacrificing taste for laughs or sneers, but this is The Stranglers you're hearing, not Richard Marx. Excellent record.
This isn't much of a movie, and it's as bad as the original VOTD, but in a different way. Most of it revels in period-style exploitation stuff – hippies, parties, drugs, wanton sex, psychedelic rock, random violence, and especially dumb stereotypes of L.A. scenesters/fame-seekers of all kinds. And this is where the movie works best, of course. When it tries to tell any semblance of story, it collapses faster than a house of cards in a windstorm. But this is one case when that can be forgiven (somewhat). I used to have this flick rated as a 1-star "classic" but after a few more viewings have to say it's moved up a few notches on my scale, mainly because it really does fit snugly into that trashy cult category oh so well.
