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Rating:
Concentrated Energy
For more than four years, The Distillers have been on the punk-rock path, and now this band, in its third incarnation, comes out with CORAL FANG, a work that firstly confirms an absolute certainty: singer Brody Dalle has immense talent! This Australian singer with lungs of steel is the band's sole composer and also the only remaining member of the original core. "She's the boss." Brody might be the most explosive rock-woman of the moment. After living intensely for twenty-five years, she has taken control of her destiny, breaking away from the past: she signed with a major label (Warner), divorced her husband Tim Armstrong of Rancid, and publicly got involved with Josh Homme of QOTSA.
A personal revolution, followed by this discographic rebirth. Her music has nevertheless remained tenaciously punk, at least as far as the first three tracks of the new album are concerned: the opening Drain The Blood, the Californian Dismantle Me, and the irresistible Die On A Rope. However, starting from the fourth track, the sound direction slightly shifts to more sonic frequencies: the astounding The Gallon Is God will be a surprise for the more radical fans who will hear echoes reminiscent of Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey, in the form of an intense, fierce, and mature Brody.
The following title track reassesses the eardrums with frantic punk-hardcore spins, leading to another surprise, The Hunger: after an acoustic intro, an impressive liberating scream kicks in, heavy guitars, and then melody, and more melody... grunge? Then again an inhuman scream, heavy guitars, drums in the foreground, and once again that Nirvana-esque melody... wow!
In this record, Brody has played with some cornerstones of '90s music with such mastery as to overshadow some more experienced colleagues. Demonstration? Listen to Hall Of Mirrors, a substantial track that literally makes the best of Courtney Love pale (to whom Brody has always been compared). Fluency, rock'n'roll, a sharp and dynamic voice: Hole-sound, yes, but interpreted much, much better. The rest of the album remains tonic and powerful. I also mention the cathartic Death Sex, a teasing title for an almost thirteen-minute piece that alternates a beastly speed-punk drive with ghostly free sonic digressions.
Brody's voice and guitar are accompanied by a supreme band (the excellent drummer Andy Granelli, bassist Ryan Sinn, and the "new entry" Tony Bradley on the second guitar), and they have benefited from more than worthy production (Gil Norton), as well as fabulous recording (Jon Dunne, and mastering by Howie Weinberg). The cover art by Tim Presley is irreverent enough... what more can be said?
...that the future of rock is Woman.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Drain the Blood (03:08)
I'm living on shattered faith
The kind that likes to restrict your breath
Never been a better time than this
Suffocate on eternal bliss
In a city
That swells with so much hate
You seem to rise above
And take its place
The heart pumps until it dies
Drain the blood, the heart is wise
All my friends are murder
All my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away
I never met a pearl quite like you
Who could shimmer and rot at the same time through
There's never been a better time than this
Bite the hand of the frost bitten emenence
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away, away, away
Woah, woah, woah, woah
I'm alive in uterine
A star in the dark, a new day has dawned
Open up and let it flow
I'll make it yours so here we go
All my friends are murder
Hey, all my bones no marrows in
All these fiends want teenage meat
All my friends are murderers
Away hes gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away
He's gone away, away
02 Dismantle Me (02:26)
I fancy you
But I've been destitute
And all I know dissolved
I could never re-undo you
I will always say it's so
I will always speak the truth
Descend into a noose
I Could never re-undo you
I want to bury you
I want to bury you
Vultures circle around
Feathers float, wings flap, beats pound
And though my hearts exposed
I could never re-undo you
I will always bleed the truth
I will always speak
And know I was sent to cut you lose
I will never re-undo you
I want to bury you
I want to bury you
I want to bury you
I want to bury you
Dismantle Me
Yeah Dismantle Me
Yeah Dismantle Me
It’s warm and humid on Swanson Street
And the air is filled with electricity
And the sky is deeper than a dream
And the sky is deeper than aaaahhhh!
Dismantle Me
Yeah Dismantle Me
Yeah Dismantle Me
And the sky is deeper than a dream
And the sky is deeper than a dream
03 Die on a Rope (02:39)
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die on a rope?
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die?
I wish that you didn't love me no more, I've been dead for years,
I wish that you didn't own me no more, I've been here before.
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die on a rope?
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die? No, I won't!
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die on a rope?
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die?
I want to draw the blood from your neck, spill the lies in your bed.
I will give you a holy white rose, cut the tongue from your head.
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die on a rope?
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die? No, I won't!
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die on a rope?
Tell me something, tell me stupid, will I die, will I die?
I belong to a line of red scent, teach the heart to reflect.
The wound is wise for primal black eyes, there's a scarlet letter in my chest.
04 The Gallow Is God (04:35)
Oh how my heart it sings suicide,
Oh how my gallow sinks of black dye.
Oh how my death march brings a tear to your eye,
Oh how the noose it swings when you die.
What a surprise, what is the price, what is the price, what is the price?
What a surprise, what is the price, what is the price, what is the price?
Oh how my heart it splits when you dumb my eyes,
Oh how my gallow sinks of red dye.
Oh how the noose it smiles when you lie,
Oh how my womb it licks when you dig deep inside.
What a surprise, what is the price, what is the price, what is the price?
What a surprise, what is the price, what is the price, what is the price?
Do you do it,oh yeah do you feel it,oh yeah do you sell it,oh yeah,do you need it,oh yeah
In the sun the willows give you shade
how they hang like a guillotine blade in the sun.
In the sun the willows give you shade
how they hang like a guillotine blade in the sun,
like a blade.
In the sun, like a blade.
What a surprise, what is the price, what is the price, what is the price?
What a surprise, what is the price, what is the price, what is the price?
05 Coral Fang (02:09)
It's come take from the ripe
It feels so still I could just die just die
It's come to reach up inside
Oh how the blood stains well on white
Ooh the coral fang sinking in to make you well
Ooh the coral fang sinking in to make you ill
It's come to rape what you hide
It fills the years with reprise, disgust, disguise
i'll burn my own funeral pyre
And from your mouth I will rise out rise out
Ooh the coral fang sinking in to make you well
Ooh the coral fang sinking in to make you ill
When the fang sinks down in
Makes your eyes white and roll right into him
When the coral shaves the skin
Disease is cheap scars are polished clean
Ooh the coral fang sinking in to make you well
Ooh the coral fang sinking to take at will
06 The Hunger (05:27)
Holy eyes, I never knew I'd beg down at your feet
Hold on tight, I never knew I'd know much more than this
Open sky, the wave of pain, the scent of you is bliss
Hungry eyes, they stare at me.. I know, I know..
Don't go...
Summertime, the taste of saint secretes and perfume mist
console the mind, I take it in with lips of pink I kiss
Lonely sky, the more you take the more that I give in
Holy eyes, I never knew, I know, I know..
Don't go...
Hold onto the memory, it's all you've got
I know you'll be there to soak up blood lost, blood lost, blood loss.
Don't go...
Hold onto the memory, it's all you've got
I know you'll be there to soak up blood lost
Hold onto the memory, it's all you've got
I know you'll be there to soak up blood lost, blood lost, blood loss.
Yeah...yeah, yeah...yeah, yeah, yeah...yeah...yeah, yeah, uhhh, uhh, uhh, uhh, uhh ,uhh, uhh, yeah, uhh, ohh, ohhhhh, yeah
07 Hall of Mirrors (03:49)
I come down like a hurricane sucked up inside
Now I spit out the suffer, yeah
You say you want a revelation,
Revel in this my lover
You’re free at liberty is this what you want
Sometimes I wonder…
[Chorus 1]
There’s a highway to, to the edge yeah
Once a night you will drive yourself there
At the end of the road you will find the answer
At the end of the road you will drink abyss
I come down like a bloody rain cuts up flesh sky,
Pulse beating under, yeah
Meat petals bloom in a bone garden
Ain’t no god, no ghost gonna save you now
I sell souls at the side of the road
Would you like to take a number?
[Chorus 2]
There’s a highway to, to the edge, yeah
Once a night you will drive yourself there
At the end of the road you will find the answer
At the end of the road you will drink the fear
Take your time, come on, get what you come for don't
Waste my time, come on, get what you come for don't
Waste my time, come on, get what you come for don't
Waste my time, come on, get what you come for
[Chorus 3]
There’s a highway to, to the edge, yeah
Once a night you will drive yourself there
At the end of the road you will find the answer
At the end of the road you will drink abyss
I watched you burn in the eye of my sun, in the eye of my sun yeah yeah
I fucked you in, in the eye of my sun, in the eye of my sun yeah yeah
[x2]
08 Beat Your Heart Out (02:48)
Baby you make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
I know...
let alone to rest alone
Yeah..You’re making me
I had to run the damage is done
give it up yeah , give it up yeah
Theres nothing left take the rest
You’re draining me
I set it light it burns so bright
Stab it out yeah
Stab it out yeah
You make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
I know, yeah I know, yeah I know
I had to run the damage is done
give it up yeah, give it up yeah
I had to go
It got out of control
Yeah You’re breaking me
There’s nothing left so take the rest
Stab it out yeah
Stab it out yeah
I set it light
It burns so bright
Yeah..You’re draining me
You make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
I know, yeah I know, that it’s true
Let alone to rest alone (ohhhhhhhhh)
Let alone to rest alone (ohhhhhhhhh)
Let alone to rest alone (ohhhhhhhhh)
ohhhhhhhhh ohhhhhhh ohhhhhhhh
Baby you make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
There’s nothing left so take the rest
There’s nothing left so take the rest
There’s nothing left so take the rest
There’s nothing left so take the rest
Baby you make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
Baby you make my heart beat faster
Let alone
09 Love Is Paranoid (02:07)
I step right off the edge
Let the blood rush to my head
I’m going down to where the lucky ones have bled
I lift the veil up to reveal A fascination
And if you crave it
Then you know that you are injured
And I’m holding on
And I’m holding on
For what you do to me
oh Baby there’s no measure
I've taken everything and
Now I want to give it
I left the lights on so you stumble in devotion
So easy
So easy
Its left unspoken
And I’m holding on
And I’m holding on
And I’m holding on
And I’m holding on
I’ve come to realize that you're the only thing I...
I’m falling all the way
I’m falling all the way
I’ve come to realize you're the only thing I want now
I’m fallen all the way in
I’m fallen all the way in
I’m fallen all the way in
I’m fallen
I’m fallen all the way in
I’m fallen all the way in
I’ve fallen all the way in
I’ve fallen all the way in
I’ve fallen all the way in
I’ve fallen all the way in
10 For Tonight You're Only Here to Know (03:18)
I really want you to sigh,
never in tune just sigh,
I really want you to sigh,
never in tune just sigh.
just tonight I would, I would lay here for you
just tonight I would, I would sink here for you
just tonight I would, I would slum here for you
just tonight I would, I would die.
I really want you to sigh,
never in tune just sigh,
I really want you to sigh,
never in tune just sigh.
where am, am I, in the hallway small,
theres a red light, and a black sore.
away I say, away I say, away I say, away.
you'll follow me till the end, till the end,
you'll swallow me till there is nothing left
you'll follow me till the end, till the end,
you'll swallow me till there's nothing left.
I really want you to sigh,
never in tune just sigh,
I really want you to sigh,
never in tune just sigh
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Other reviews
By Sanjuro
My grandmother is more riotous when she makes the sauce.
These Distillers are yet another scam that the majors and MTV offer us.
By ashanti
I like it. Typical punk sometimes with some concessions to the more commercial side of this same genre.
The Distillers represent some form of rebellion, the Hole perhaps a revolution.
