Brain Donor
Love, Peace & Fuck

LA RECENSIONE

The Brain Donor... Kevlar on percussion, Dogman on Lead Guitar, and Julian H. on bass, guitar, and vocals... These names - at first glance - mean nothing, but as we dig deeper, we discover that Julian H. is none other than Julian Cope (ex-Teardrop Explodes and one of the great unclassifiable "geniuses" of Rock) and that the other two turn out to be - officially - A. Foster and K. Bales (yes, the very ones involved in the groups Spaceman3 and Spiritualized).

The Brain Donor... a supergroup... or rather a "Stuporgroup," as seen on the official website. And the music is there! In its deranged progression, the album features genuine gems of dirty, irregular, distorted, and psychedelic delirium. It starts with "She Saw Me Coming": begins with electric guitar, then bass and drums, and finally Cope’s tortured voice in the most classic Garage tradition, between Mc5 and Stooges. Just a moment, three minutes and something, then it moves to the splendid "Get Off Your Pretty Face".

But it's only an appetizer... the "Brain Donors" still have to serve their finest dishes from the hypnotic conclusion with spacey electronic touches of "Pagan Dawn" to the explosive mix of kraut rock, Barrett-ian psychedelia (like that of Interstellar Overdrive for instance), and Stoner of "Odin's Gift to His Mother". Just enough time for a cigarette: relax with "Hairy Music"... an electric ballad: Cope’s voice caresses us while the electric guitar paints our soul in the void. But it's only for a moment: relaxation is over. We are once more assaulted by all-encompassing distortions and the shouted "U-Know!" that intertwines with the improvisation of "You Take the Credit" filled with piercing electric and electronic solos (not to mention vocal).

A step into the past: "Lughnasad". Seems like a track from Cope's solo works (Autogeddon, Interpreter, Peggy Suicide). But it only serves to get a run-up for the concluding "She's Gotta Have It"... twenty minutes of delirious Trance, disturbed and distorted hypnosis... the real masterpiece of the album. The Brain Donor, piss all over the new generation of bands of the new (old) Sound, and as read on the official site: "Brain Donor is a Speed Metal Band playing ballads, Brain Donor is a Japanese Noise combo interpreting the Troggs, Brain Donor is Van Halen 'jamming' with a Hoover!".

A great album...