Reviews
Head Out on the Lost Highway
Pomade, noir, and a drum machine engage in an illicit tryst on
Dirty Beaches' Badlands
Apparently this is a solo effort by one Alex Zhang Hungtai. The music is lo-fi and muddy (definitely has that “recorded-in-a-shoebox” aura), and all of it sounds vaguely familiar, so that the listener can perceive many potential influences, some of which may be attributed imaginarily. First-wave rock’n’roll springs immediately to mind in light of the croony, hiccupy vocals, but there’s also a layer of pulsating lo-tech industrial in the mix. There is nothing necessarily groundbreaking here, but it’s all pretty solid for a one-man show.
The first track, “Speedway King,” is straight out of the Suicide songbook, while track two, “Horses,” has a rumbly spy-rock vibe. “Sweet 17,” with its bleak underlying low-end riff, is evocative of a sped-up Joy Division if Lux Interior of The Cramps had taken over vocal duties.
On the latter half of the album, “True Blue” and “Lord Knows Best” take on a fuzzy, laidback early-60s sound.
The album switches gears again at the end with two instrumental tracks. “Black Nylon” could be the skeleton of one of the slower tracks from Mind-era Ministry, while there are traces of Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten in Spartan minimalistic mode on “Hotel.”
Apparently this is an unflattering comparison, but I also hear a lot of Chris Isaak in Hungtai’s vocals. Plus there is his whole David Lynch obsession.
Posted by Todd Monkeypants on 10/14 • (0) Comments • Permalink
File under:
Music
There are no comments yet, but you can be the first!
