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Mar 28, 2012Delicious.
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Mar 20, 2012A quality accompaniment and memorial.
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Jan 11, 2011Cave's noisy, dentist-drill guitar work is still prominently featured, but occasionally it takes on pedal-warped psychedelic tones as the songs stretch out beyond the band's typical garage-rock template.
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Dec 21, 2010Grinderman 2 follows with more of a racket, still the full-throttle guitar-driven rock meant to separate men from boys.
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For what it sets out to do, it's damn near perfect, and what higher praise is there than that?
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Profane, lecherous, loaded with head-trip tape loops and guitars that sound like power tools melting in the sun, this is late-night, howl-at-the-moon-outside-the-punk-club stuff.
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The rest of us will succumb happily to Grinderman's sick skill and wonder why rebel teens don't make dangerous, dastardly rock'n'roll like this anymore.
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Grinderman is a living, breathing beast, not a side project, but a tangible band capable of sparking off in different directions.
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While it's easy to see why some listeners may prefer the completely unhinged sounds of Grinderman's debut, this set, with its expansive sonics and studied bombast, is still full of so much adrenaline, nastiness, and rock & roll sleaze that it stands in its own league and kicks serious ass.
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Almost everything here boils down to Cave's perennial concerns of sex and violence, rather than any Dark Lord of rock'n'roll stuff, coming loaded with lines to make even the most grave-faced goth chortle into their gruel.
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Free jazz indie rock? John Zorn might approve. Shards of corrosive woodshedding imbedded at every angle, Grinderman 2 sequels the lashing 2007 debut by Nick Cave's Bad Seeds satellite quartet.
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Indeed, Grinderman 2 is actually a far more listen-able record, with far more replay value, and this is what I'll remember when I find myself nostalgic for the dumb simplicity of the first album.
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Alternative PressWhile he certainly has the ability to rage in a Mel-Gibson-esque blow-me-while -I-burn-the-house-down style, Cave brings enough grace and reticence to the songs, making the proceedings even more sinister. [Oct 2010, p.113]
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If this isn't an instant classic, it's only because it takes some time (and ears) to appreciate.
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Grinderman 2 is a great album by most standards. By Nick Cave's standards, however, the man responsible for Prayers on Fire, No More Shall We Part and even the first Grinderman record, it doesn't quite live up to its promise.
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Throughout Grinderman 2, the guitars and violins pant and howl with a visceral, veteran's swagger. Late middle age has never sounded so thrilling.
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Songs rampage from garage swamp blues to psychedelic Stooges rock. Guitarist Warren Ellis's bouzouki makes sounds you'd expect in an abattoir, not a studio. There are some terrific songs--notably the sublime Palaces of Montezuma and the epic, apocalyptic Bellringer Blues.
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Cave's skill at crafting work drenched with the blood and tears of human flaws remains unparalleled, and makes Grinderman 2 an essential rock and roll document.
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MojoGrinderman 2 finds the group continuing their musical voyage inot the id. [Oct. 2010, p. 91]
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Cave and Co. have moved further toward balancing their Grinderman skuzz with Bad Seeds sophistication-which means it's not always as bust-you-up-on-the-barstool fun, but it's still a sleazy good time.
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Kerrang!Grinderman 2 proves that this bunch of hirsute, middle-aged reprobates are making some of the most unsettling-yet-addictive rock music of the age. [25 Sep 2010, p.52]
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For all it's blunt-force heft and energy, Grinderman 2's true success comes in the feeling that, for all its size, the band is still holding something back.
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As entertaining as it is, there remains a nagging notion that Grinderman 2 is ultimately another water-testing exercise to decide upon which seas Nick Cave will sail the full Bad Seeds line-up when it next reconvenes – now sadly minus Mick Harvey – in the studio.
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UncutThe blues remain a touchstone--the album's first line is "Woke up this Morning"--but Grinderman 2 prefers to prowl rock's perimeter with Amon Duul II, Suicide and contemporary drone practitioners like Wooden Shjips. [Oct 2010, p.86]
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Like much of Cave's work, there is an ominous sense of dread always creeping. But unlike previous work, there's a speed and intensity to Grinderman 2 unheard before.
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Grinderman 2 goes a long way towards solidifying this four-man Bad Seeds mash-up as a distinctive musical act, even as it brings them closer to their parent band's wheelhouse.
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The album's M.O. is summed up by the title of its shortest whirlwind: "Evil." It feels good to be this bad.
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Q MagazineWhere Grinderman 2 does possess unique ace is its skillfully employed shot of psychedelia. [Oct 2010, p.102]
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Under The RadarGrinderman 2 features the band stronger and more wonderfully unrefined and unrestrained than ever. [Summer 2010, p.79]
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While many of Cave and Co.'s albums celebrate redemption and salvation after an emotional battering, Grinderman 2 is about release, musically and otherwise – what else would you expect from a photo of a rabid wolf about to piss on then or tear a hole in someone in an opulent house?!
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The devil be praised that, rather than visiting the shrink or brothel to deal with his sexual dysfunction, the Grinderman went to the studio instead.
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Cave dials down the fiercely vivid imagery for a stark meditation on sex and death that leaves almost everything to the listener's imagination, accompanied by little more than the crackle of static.
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Grinderman 2's variety and complexity never feels like a reach, and doesn't keep the album from cohering beautifully.
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Cave drops brilliantly funny lines throughout, and his enthusiasm for this project is palpable.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 30 out of 33
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Mixed: 2 out of 33
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Negative: 1 out of 33
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Sep 16, 2010
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Apr 24, 2012
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Oct 13, 2010