Search - Ultra Vivid Scene :: Rev

Siren songs for new wanderers on nocturnal currents

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 11/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent 1991 album, deserving of top rank for the 90's. I suppose grunge wiped this comparatively sophisticated album off the charts into oblivion, but, like Roxy Music's "Avalon" of nearly a decade earlier, it endures as a crooner's meditation and confrontation with evocative but evanescent beauty. Sexual obsession permeates many of the tracks, which have overlays ranging from the Velvets, The Who, Led Zep, and classic rock from the early 70s. This may seem surprising to those who had heard his one-man UVS (too tinny sounding, but not bad) and "Joy" efforts, but this surpasses even "Joy," which holds up well as a catchy, solid DIY album. It's a pity that Kurt Ralske, who seems to have moved into production (Lotion, Lilys) later in the decade, no longer issues his own promising music.



"Rev" takes the sheen of its predecessor and dips it into a darker, bloodier taint. The lyrical fascination with seduction, secretion, and submission makes this a modern take on Severin or even a younger John Cale. Kurt Ralske, working with other musicians here to round out a luxuriantly cushioned bed of sound, thickens his previous songcraft by stirring in more menace. His crooning style does lack necessary range, and makes the tracks more samey than they are musically, yet this consistency does weave its power well.



The Middle Eastern influences merged with a Keith Moon-type drum assault, for instance, make marvelously hypnotic soundtracks for erotic reverie, headphone introspection, and/or late-night accompaniment. The addition of other musicians here warms up what had been a rather too-clinical detachment on the first two UVS albums. Ralske's choice here is the right one. This album cradles you and pushes you away, and it contains a magnetic personality within that few records create, sustain, and beckon again a listener to return to when its mood invites.

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