The Guilfordian
January 23,1998
MEW
MUSIC
■The/e Animal Wleos
Accident/ UlaitinQ to
Happen/BT =OK
=>These Animal Men
Accident and Emergency
BY PAIGE MCRAE
Features Music Critic
These Animal Men are a bevy of
beauties from Brighton England with spiky
black hair and clad in black leather. Their
debut album, C mon Join the High So-
Accident & Emergency. I
I V
fl n Mkl
II H r\
PHOTO COURTESY OF VIRGIN RECORDS
ciety, with its organ hooks and super
charged guitar, was recklessly jubilant in
spirit.
Their latest, Accident & Emer
gency, is still reckless to be sure, but the
jubilance appears to have given way to a
slightly more world-weary attitude. This
album is perhaps best described as a
glimpse into what has happened now that
they've joined that high society of dissi
pated mods.
"In spite of it all, I'm alive." lead
singer Boag proclaims on "24 Hours to
Live" and the statement stands alongside
a catchy chorus. Guitarist Julian Hewings
does some vocals on "New Wave Girl"
and "Ambulance Man" which are quite
endearing in a Sid Vicious sort of way.
The organs, which earlier seemed more
prominent, are now submerged under
guitar lines that Johnny Thunders or Pe
ter Perrett from the Only Ones would
Features
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"Riverboat Captain" finds the Ani
mal Men straying from the urban jungle
into the muddy banks of the Mississippi.
It is a murderer's confession with the
chilling statement that "he won't get one
second older." The murky-sounding vo
cals and shuffling drums further enhance
this dark revenge fantasy.
However, amid the unapolo
getic attitude, there are moments of
vulnerability. "When Your hands are
Tied" actually sounds a bit fragile
with its chime-like keyboards and
Boag's intimate vocal phrasing. He
laments the gulf that has grown be
tween himself and his increasingly
cold lover, saying "Within that look I
get nervous/ for the damage that
you'll do." Julian with his frantic
boyish voice feels "trapped, mapped/
full of boys lies."
The best point to get ac
quainted with These Animal Men is
C 'mon Join the High Society, but
fans might be pleased to see the
Animal Men pushing there bound-
Aries and further exploring that connec
tion between the energy of the early gui
tar-smashing Who and the hellbent atti
tude of Johnny Thunders.
=>BT
ESCM
BY JEFF IRVING
Features Music Critic
Electronic music oftentimes sounds
cool, but for many it doesn't hold up for
too long. Either the sounds tend to be
nondescript and aimed strictly at the con
verted, a stubborn artist insists on playing
only the most abrasive, arrhythmic or oth
erwise difficult music, or the music pan
ders to the most generic lowest common
dancefloor denominator.
Casual listeners aren't always go
ing to see what's so great about some
obscure, generic-sounding ambient artist.
The same people may see an electro
world far beyond Prodigy or the Chemi
cal Brothers, but don't want to listen to
the skewed clattering of Aphcx Twin or
the test-tone wallpaper of Panasonic.
Brian Transeau (BT) has released
an album that would appeal to those who
search for accessible-but-not-dumbed
down dance music that crosses enough
subgenres to remain interesting. He was
even a classically trained musician long
before venturing into electronic music,
and it shows. Acoustic instruments hold
equal footing with the binary code-gen
erated sounds, and Transeau can write a
very good, structured song when he wants
to.
Human elements and spirituality are
ever abundant in his work. It's no won
der that Tori Amos readily worked with
him on the song "Blue skies"' (which, un-
fortunately, is
not on this al
bum.)
ESCM
(which stands
for '"Electric
Skychurch Mu
sic") is testa
ment to the fact
that electronic
music needn't
be cold and ro
botic. I think
that the best
songs here are
the most pop
oriented ones.
*"' jHj ; |. ;J: ;
They show where dance music has po
tential to hold up on the dancefloor and
on headphones. "Remember" is what
would happen if "Live To TelF'-era Ma
donna suddenly became the frontperson
of New Order in their prime, and Under
world produced them. There are enough
hooks and dynamic changes to keep it
interesting for its eight-minute duration.
"Lullaby for Gaia" is the sound of
the sun coming out after a heavy rain
storm or flood, and you know that things
are going to be lovely for the rest of your
life. A few other tracks have jungle-ish
beats, and "'Love, Peace, and Grease" is
a Chemical Brothers/ Daft Punk-like
dancefloor would-be hit, complete with
old school hip-hop samples. Richard
Butler of Psychedelic Furs/Love Spit
Love fame is even rumored to have an
uncredited vocal cameo on this album, but
I still haven't found it.
This isn't to say that the album is
completely without fault. There's a lot
of excellent music here, but Transeau
loves to do long, overblown piano intros
or faux-ambient soundscapes that must
be trudged through to get to a lot of the
good stuff. Kind of like someone mak
ing you listen to Yanni or New Age nic
fading into an Underworld song ne
NIN-kowtowing of "Solar Plexus' is
as he gets more experience, he'll better
utilize the Yanni-isms,) this is a very good
album. It may not convince anti
electronica types to go and buy drum and
bass albums, but it does have a very soul
ful, human side.
ESCM also shows that dance mu
sic needn't forsake emotion or songcraft
to still work. Brian, we love ya. Keep it
up.
9
done to h
(and bettei oy
Stabbing West
ward back in '94.
For me, it's only
justification lies in
the fact that it
fades into a
beautiful Tori-ish
piano piece about
halfway through.
Even with
all of its problems,
which are mainly
knowing what
does and doesn't
work (hopefully,