BRIAN
JONESTOWN MASSACRE - TEPID PEPPERMINT WONDERLAND
Distributor:
Tee Pee Records Reviewer: BF
For
too long have comparisons of BJM
been drawn with their
compatriots The Dandy Warhols
but this fantabulous new 2 disc
retrospective of the bands ouvre
will hopefully bring them to a
wider audience, showcasing
material recorded over the last
ten years, the band mine a
particular brand of lo-fi poppy
psychedelia that calls to mind
Julian Cope, Barrett era Pink
Floyd (especially on Servo and
It Girl) and the legendary Roky
Erickson.
The
band is pretty much Anton
Newcombe (other band members do
tend to come and go), the groups
leader and songwriter, highly
prolific, at one stage he was
allegedly writing four new songs
a day during the mid 1990’s
and the band have released a
stash of albums over the last
decade.The only downside to some
of the 38 tracks featured here
is that they are just too lo-fi,
Newcombe’s vocals (he sounds
like a cross between Noel
Gallagher and Robert Smith of
The Cure) are sometimes way too
far back in the mix.
Stand
out tracks though include the very 1960’s and very gorgeous Sailor, Who
and Stolen, the set also includes a trio of live tracks recorded at WFMU
(Swallowtail is in fact previously unreleased). The Brian Jonestown Massacre
are part of that non-conformist, left of mainstream, underground scene who
never seem to quite make the big time but Tepid Peppermint Wonderland could
just well change things, in fact it is pretty much the perfect primer for
the singular vision of Newcombe and his band.
