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| Brian Jonestown
Massacre |
| February 1 at the Troubadour |
| BY WAYNE LEWIS |
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| The specters
of the past can be seductive and powerful -- just ask
Anton Newcombe. At times his band, the Brian Jonestown
Massacre, is so slavishly reverent to the pantheon of
'60s Anglo-psychedelic rock that it seems they'll never
do anything that wasn't done better when Anton was still
in diapers. Writing, performing and producing a song
as accurately as possible in the style of, say, the
Rolling Stones might be fun, but it's kind of pointless
when real, essential Stones records are readily available.
Even BJM's excursions into drone rock largely come off
as derivative. That the band is in on the joke makes
little difference.
However, Newcombe's ability to write a killer melody
and infuse his music with an appealing, Nuggets-style
shabbiness makes BJM worth talking about. His best
songs are so compelling that you're swept up and forget
to listen for the self-conscious historical references.
Unfortunately, last year's Bravery Repetition and
Noise was the sound of a slump. Lyrics, never
the band's biggest strength, bottomed out at a comical
triteness appropriate for songs called "If I Love
You?" and "(I Love You) Always," and the off-kilter
energy of old is largely MIA. Seekers of spectacle
may note that BJM has a track record of fantastic
disasters live in concert, but those fits may be a
thing of the past. With Nebula, Bluebird and Dead
Meadow.
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