Grinderman Grinderman by: Tom Ridgewell Mon:16-Apr-07 Label: Anti- Year: 2007 WB rating 71 out of 100

Nick Cave’s music has always had a raw edge to it, a visceral brutality, hidden within his silver-tongued swagger. Even through the introspective, piano-based music of the latter half of his career, Cave has always displayed an element of danger, an animal, lying in wait for its prey. Whether it be anger, hate, frustration, love or irritation, Cave has a knack for easily conveying what he feels and while Grinderman’s self-titled album may simply be an example of old stagers jumping back onto the horse for a last ride through the valley of the shadow of death. If this is the case then they are riding with more experience than when they were frustrated teens in the ‘80’s. But regardless of pedigree there is but one essential question:  is the old grey mare what she used to be?

Essentially Grinderman is a return to Caves’ roots. Instead of sitting behind a piano, he is back standing front and centre, picking up the microphone and yelling over the top of the ramshackle, yet steady, accompaniment of a post-punk band. Just like the days of The Birthday Party and early Bad Seeds, Cave lets all his emotions out in bursts of noise and chants. His voice, amazingly, does not seem to have aged; groaning, yelping and growling as it did before. But instead of the drone of The Birthday Party or the sharp rhythm-based arrangements of the early Bad Seeds he has gathered three of the underground’s best instrumentalists to create a rich canvas; a vast array of noise, rhythms and melodies that are easily the equal of any contemporary art rock band.

Grinderman starts with a bang. The first track, ‘Get It On’, is an obvious beginning for the album, with a muddied a Capella shout of “I’ve gotta get up to get down/And start all over again” followed by a loose electric guitar riff blasting over the top, our maestro commands “Get it on, Get it on”. ‘No Pussy Blues’ continues this aggressive streak, the song is summed up in five words “She just didn’t want to”. This I imagine is the universal outlook for aging rock stars such as Cave and his cronies. The song covers the protagonist’s pursuit of a young lady; quoting all the actions he takes in attempting to woo the damsel; his many tricks failing to convince her to bed him. The songs modern setting is reinforced by possible pop-culture references such as “revolting little Chihuahua” (alluding to Paris Hilton’s little mutt?). While the song is amusing lyrically, musically it is the perfect accompaniment to a name like Grinderman, the sonic screeches of Ellis’ violin letting loose at the end of the track.

The album unfortunately dies down after these two songs, although there are moments of oddity, such as the funk driven ‘I Don’t Need You To Set Me Free’ which sounds like the band had just gotten back from a Chili Peppers concert. The intention to branch out is honourable, but amongst the preceding post-punk and rock tracks such a song selection fails limply. While the rest of the album shows some flashes of the sound you’d expect from the Grinderman moniker, it just doesn’t hit the spot like the angry and drug-affected music Cave made when girls ‘did want to’.

With all this said Grinderman is far from a bad album, the quality of the musicians ensures that even if it is the product of a mid-life crisis it was never going to be a cringing failure. And if you are going to have a crisis, why not make an album with a monkey on the front and yell about how you can’t get sex any more? Grinderman is a bit of fun, and definitely a worthwhile purchase for Cave fans. But for those that are new to the work of Cave and Co. go out and buy something from the Birthday Party, and sit back and listen to angst and anger in a more pure and youthful form.