York
1997
Thirsty Ear
Normally, when J.G. "Foetus" Thirlwell releases an album, I bow most deeply at the altar of Foetus. After all, his fifteen plus years in the art of aural terrorism have made him a virtual legend in the neo-industrial field, with ecclectic albums such as Hole, Thaw, and recently Gash all paving the way. Perhaps significantly, Thirlwell has always chosen to isolate himself in the studio to create these masterpieces.
For York, J.G. assembled a cast of New York's most notable no-wave artists from various groups (Cop Shoot Cop, Pussy Galore, to name a couple...and of course Lydia Lunch) giving the metronomes and various improvision pieces to lend talent while he & Ms. Lunch narrate factual prose about their decadent neighborhood. Very lofty ambitions, but it fails to captivate the listener the way an album with the Foetus tag should. Lunch rambles on and on, but frankly she's detracting to the music. Musically, it's a spiffy jam session with serious jazz leanings, but nothing here is worth releasing and charging fans money over.
The only crowd who might appreciate this will be the anti-rock types. The rest of us should wait for the next proper Foetus release.
Track listing:
1. Black Adonis
2. Crumpled City
3. Puddlin' Doorway
4. Egomaniacs With Insecurity Problems
5. Arschficken
Review by John Chedsey.