posted 10/13/2008 (Mon) @ 08:00 am
>>> Music Reviews
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club - Cipher (2008)
Gothic Americana / Psychobilly / Folk
Fierce Cows and Bitter Buffalo
- An Introduction To The Power Of Braces ~ Arms
- This Land Is Our Land Redux
- All About The Bullfrog In 3 Verses
- Americadio
- An Introduction To The Power Of Braces ~ Legs
- Children Of The Lord
- Scac 101
- Ladies In The Know
- A Smashing Indictment Of Character
- Boom Magalina Hagalina Boom
- An Introduction To The Power Of Braces ~ Teeth
- Jesus Is In My Body ~ My Body Has Let Me Down
- Red Pirate Of The Prairie
- Everyone Is Guilty #4
- An Introduction To The Power Of Braces ~ Faith
- That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense In A Country Dress
Equal parts country western Dead Kennedys and From Dusk Till Dawn bar band, Cipher’s brew of Americana psychobilly rides on manic drumming, tin can spring reverb, occasional traditional instruments—run, I hear banjos!—yodeling in sprinkles, and creepily deep-voiced sermonizing the rest of the duration. Slim’s a macabre Southern preacher drunk on snake oil, surrounded by fallen angels playing slide guitar and mouth harp.
If the dense, spooky ferocity of “Americadio” or the tongue-in-cheek, vocal-doubled Modest Mouse bounce of “This Land Is Our Land Redux” are any indication, something sinister’s microbrewing in Denver. Of course, there’s also the rompy, unsettling square dance vibe of “Ladies in the Know” to get those hearts a-flutterin’ and those feet a-movin’: “Know my lady, know my lady, know!” Do-si-do!
“Jesus Is In My Body, My Body Has Let Me Down” amps up the schtick to its logical conclusion: a wicked drone, an unsettling sermon, waves of apocalyptic noise that growl and wail at the behest of an unseen conductor. And it is a schtick. It’s new, it’s out of the ordinary. It also carries an overdose of goofiness which can tend to wear quite thin in the course of sixteen songs. Whether you’ll weather the storm of schtick depends on your relationship with country music.
Still, whatever rotgut stuff they’re knocking back, these Mile High Citizens are making a splash. They’ve had their style of tuneage branded the new “Denver sound,” along with a smattering of other bands (Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots, 16 Horsepower). Hard to imagine the demonic praise-organ cacophony of “Boom Magalina Hagalina Boom” playing anywhere but inside the head of a madman. Yet here it is, on record.
In the Auto Club’s own words on the closing “That Fierce Cow…”, “It’s not like that. No, it’s not like that.” You won’t find anything else quite like it.
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Tags: americana, denver sound, munly, psychobilly, slim cessna's auto club
