Brian Jonestown Massacre: My Bloody Underground

Label: A Records

Anyone who saw the amazing rock-biopic Dig could ascertain that Anton Newcombe, the only constant member of Brian Jonestown Massacre is fully insane. It’s a sad thing, in some ways, because the guy seems to have a really hard life, fraught with addiction, failure and raw deals, but it’s also his specific insanity that cultivates his prolific musical genius. Charlie Parker once said “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn”, and My Bloody Underground is more evidence the fact that Newcombe lives the dysfunctional mayhem that his rock band perfects. The thirteen tracks here sprawl out in a strange junkie-rock symphony, leaning towards the same approach to Stones-worship as mid-period Royal Trux, but finding a middle ground that brings to mind a more strung out and psychedelic version of The Stone Roses, busted up intermittently by experiments in delayed vocals and one-note Spacemen 3 style guitar vamps. There are moments of brief respite in the stripped-down acoustic “Yeah-Yeah” or the stoned broken banjos of “Who F*cking Pissed In My Well?”, but listening to the entire hour plus album ensures leaving you feeling strung out, damaged and fully insane in the best way possible. (Fred)