Search - Lydia Lunch :: Smoke in the Shadows

Cycling Cynicism with Doom and Boom

B. aguar | athens,ga. | 01/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Part of NYC's "No Wave" movement of the late 1970's spoken-word performance artist and confrontationalist Lydia Lunch began her career at the not-so-tender age of 16 as the lead vocalist for Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Since then,she had collaborated with Nick Cave and Roland S. Howard from the Birthday Party, Sonic Youth ("Death Valley '69"), Jim "Foetus" Thirwell on a variety of projects including Stinkfist, and photographer/director Richard Kern. Lunch has also authored books such as "Incriminating Evidence" and "Adulterers Anonymous" (with Exene Cervenka).



Lunch's latest musical sacrifice,"Smoke in the Shadows" is a notably jazzy affair and probrobly her most commercially acessible effort to date. Like an investigator at the scene of a crime, she portrays a femme fatale with a penetrating stare and sultry,breathy come-on. Her obsessions continue to focus on doomed relationships complete with visions of guns,explosives,shotgun shells,cigarette butts,burning beds,car crashes,high heels and bottles of bourbon. She is an angry woman indeed. And her cynical,confessional lyrics are full of venom.



Lunch has assembled an infamous cast of characters and New York "jazz guys" to accompany her spoken ranting~guitarist Nels Cline (Mike Watt,WILCO) and his brother Alex on drums, Niels Van Hoorn on saxophone (Legendary Pink Dots) and Andel Bertei (The Contortions) as backing vocalist on several tracks. Other instruments include a vibraphone,upright bass,alto flute,baritone and alto saxophones,a trombone and trumpet. Together they create a moody and haunting atmosphere like a soundtrack to a David Lynch film.



In the end,Lunch acts as a predatory powder keg filled with violent verbal attacks,preying on other animals~in this case men. She appears to be tough yet vulnerable,callous and completely carried away by a desire to confess her sins and vituperate the faults of others."