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Album Review

The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Singles Collection 1992-2011 A Records

Article written by Ged M - Oct 14, 2011

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: The Singles Collection 1992-2011

As it says on the tin, this is a singles collection, not a best of (unlike many bands). If you’re looking for the cream of the BJM, it would be better to start with Tepid Pepper Wonderland. Otherwise, take a trip (in some cases, literally) through the development of Anton Alfred Newman’s band, from the rough, shoegazey vision of 1992’s ‘She Made Me’ to the intense pummelling noiserock of this year’s ‘Illuminomi’. The early singles are experimental, psychedelic (i.e. seriously druggy) and experimental – check the sitars and false endings on 'Convertible' or the sampled sermon used on ‘Their Majesty’s 2nd Request (Enrique’s Dream)’, while there’s a ham-fisted fade on ‘Hide & Seek’. But they hit their stride with the dirty,sexy psych-pop of ‘Cold To The Touch’ and classic ‘Anenome’ in 1995 and two years later produced the classic diss of the Dandy Warhols in ‘Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth’ (a parental warning is most definitely warranted).

The influences on the second disc are clearer – West Coast 60s psychedelic rock and acid folk - and it includes the mega-rifftastic killer pop of ‘When Jokers Attack’. Bobby Jameson’s ‘There’s A War Going On’ (flipside of ‘Illuminomi’) stands out as a dramatic scream of protest in Anton’s hands. And the record ends with a bonus – the rare ‘Thoughts of You’ single released under the Acid name (Mr Newman was never subtle), a record designed to play while you’re floating in a bubble of bliss.

Of the 22 songs, 14 haven’t been released on CD. That’s a good reason for buying it – learning to love a band with their own outsider stance and internal logic, who frustrate and excite like few others.

Links:
http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com/
http://www.myspace.com/brianjonestownmassacre