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Rating: With "Goat," the Jesus Lizard reach the peak of their art. "Head+Pure" was a concentration of atrocities and brilliant ideas, but perhaps it had the flaw of a too rudimentary production (compensated, however, by its stunning originality); "Liar," their third work, on the other hand, was overly polished but lost immediacy, and despite being undoubtedly the most cohesive work in terms of sound (alongside "Down," I add), there are few truly memorable episodes, "Gladiator" above all. "Goat" represented the right compromise between the wild component and sound quality, and compared to its predecessor "Head+Pure," it is decidedly more musical (not melodic), mainly thanks to the work of that genius Duane Denison.
The album consists of 9 tracks compressed into just half an hour, emblematic is the renunciation of instrumentals like "Happy Bunny Goes Fluff Fluff" and "Pastoral" in the name of delivering as clear a message as possible. And this message begins with one of the most classic delusions: "Then comes Dudley" has the characteristics that made Yow and company famous (a niche fame, of course...). But there is something strange, the sound is indeed violent, but more refined. The singing is indeed neurotic and brutal, but less in the foreground. But above all, the guitar has changed. Now Denison is the master of the scene, the protagonist of anti-virtuoso virtuosity. The more he tries to destroy his guitar giving it incredibly sloppy tones, the more his stature as an artist of the instrument increases.
The first track is the unequivocal symbol of this. Bass and drums create an atmosphere of suffocation, while the voice, but especially the guitar, express precisely the terror of that suffocation. "Mouth Breather" returns to the serial killer scenarios of "Head," where the guitar riff creates a sense of threat, which inevitably self-detonates in a finale of blood and urine ("I leave my home, I leave it for a couple weeks, I leave my home, I leave it in the care of a friend, and in my basement I found rainin' piss, and in my kitchen I found my friend deceased").
Following are two masterpieces, "Nub," another brilliant demonstration of Denison's genius, capable of concentrating a series of knockout blows in a relatively short song, but especially "Seasick," where the Jesus Lizard return to their beloved theme of suffocation, this time not only figuratively. Yow plays the part of the desperate boatman, desperate because he can't swim and aware that he's about to die. His performance is truly something breathtaking, so realistic and sincere is his "Yellin'." Personally, I've never heard anything similar on an interpretive level. While "Monkey Trick" and "Karpis" reaffirm that the quality is at its peak, musically speaking, with carnivals of dissonance, finesse, and beatings, the track "South Mouth" follows where the punk influence is more evident in the lyrics. However, the quintessence of their art is painted, or vomited, if you will, in the frenzy of "Lady Shoes." Denison's guitar once again creates an initial climate of catastrophe, which manifests itself in a violently Redneck boogie, where Yow literally "collects," rapidly threading together episodes of such repugnance and depravity that would pale an autopsy technician and drive a saint mad. One wonders if it's just an act or if what the good Yow sings is truly part of his emotional baggage, as it seems so spontaneous, and this question makes their music even more fascinating precisely because it’s intolerable. The finale of "Rodeo in Joliet" is incredibly heavy and almost nostalgic, and once again deeply rooted in the southern and redneck imagery. One wonders if their take is a critique of this kind of society or rather its glorification.
With "Goat," the Jesus Lizard stylistically detach from any reference, minting a style of their own which has been achieved by very few, bringing to mind Morphine, Sonic Youth, and Fugazi, just to stay within the same historical frame. Precisely with Fugazi, the Jesus Lizard take on the burden of post-hardcore, and paradoxically they are its exact opposite, stylistically and conceptually. We could compare Jesus Lizard and Fugazi to a hammer and a blade, respectively. Both lethal but different in form. Fugazi theorized a reaction to the nihilism of youth at the time, ultimately professing a philosophy of hope and hard work. "Repeater" is probably the most important work of the '90s in this sense.
At the base of the Jesus Lizard, however, was the total disintegration of the principle of humanity and struggle. Their music was merely an attempt to extremize all the filth they saw around them, and we can say with certainty that they succeeded in making American society even more hellish.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Then Comes Dudley (04:23)
That woman's crazy, she's the mistress of a man who's crazy too
That woman's carryin'
Then comes Dudley
Dudley's gonna do us all a favor and tear 'em both a new asshole
Dudley feels the time has come to swell his balloon
Dudley feels the time has come to clean this womb (wound)
That's right Dudley, yeah
If it had a face I won't (wanna) eat it, he said
If it had a face I won't eat it, he said
Power of the pink he said (piggy's head)
Power of the pink he said
That woman's crazy, she's themistress of a man who's crazy too
That woman's carryin'
If it had a face I won't eat it, he said
If it had a face I won't eat it, he said
Power of the pink he said
Power of the pink he said
Power of the pink he said
Power of the pink he said
02 Mouth Breather (02:17)
I leave my home, I leave for a couple weeks
I leave my home, I leave it in the care of a friend
Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, I like him just fine
But he's a mouth breather
Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, I like him just fine
But he's a mouth breather
I expect when I return, I return to some sort of order
Such is not the case, no, such is not the case
I leave my home, I leave for a couple weeks
I leave my home, I leave it in the care of a friend
Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, I like him just fine
But he is a mouth breather
I leave my home, I leave for a couple weeks
I leave my home, I leave it in the care of a friend
And in my basement, I found rainin' piss
And in my kitchen, I found my friend deceased
03 Nub (02:30)
So since the surgery, how's that ghost limb
Hey man, say man have you been rubbin' your nub
Por favor
De no sacar los manos, de no sacar los manos
Fuera de la ventana
So cuenta es muchas dinero lo siento
But I have got to hand it to you, you're taking this extremely well
Ah rub it on me, rub it on me Duane
So since the surgery, how's that ghost limb
Hey man, say man have you been rubbin' your nub
04 Seasick (03:11)
I can swim, I can't swim, I can swim, I can't swim
I can swim, I can't swim, I can swim, I can't swim
Well here's a notion, a single idea
Swing by the ocean, because
I can't swim, I can swim, I can't swim, I can swim
I can't swim, I can swim, I can swim, I can swim
Hang by a maritime, marine at nighttime, waiting waterlogged down by the high sea
Waiting (wading) waterlogged, for that guy to arrive
Oh he don't know that
I can swim, I can't swim, I can't swim, I can swim
If there was even one chance, that he would come along
If there was even one chance, that he would come alone
If there was even one chance, that he would come along
If there was even one chance, and take a drink by the drink
Fucked up in the flood, stoned
And get soused by the sea
And take a dip, in the briny deep
Hang by the maritime, marine at nighttime
Waiting waterlogged, down by the high sea
Wading waterlogged, for that guy to arrive
Well he don't know that
I can swim, I can't swim, I can't swim, I can swim
I can't swim, I can swim, I can't swim, I can swim
05 Monkey Trick (04:19)
He's gone in her lips, a glow from her lip ignites the shapes she sees, in the shade
Only a little is used to come to a close, only a little is used to come to a close
Tonight at the knife stick up place, I spoke as a child and choked on that line
(Then I saw them), then I saw them, (then I saw them), then I saw them
What are they doing outside, what are they doing
What the hell are they doing outside, what are they doing
In so much brown and crap it's set in an odd light
This one it stops right here now, I think it's trouble youinvite
In so much as they don't know what's right
This one it stops right here now, I think it's trouble that you invite
An absurd gag, a monkey trick, an Irish Bull, a childish joke
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow
Tonight at the knife stick up place, I spoke as a child and choked on that line
Then I saw the, then I saw them, then I saw them, then I saw them
I know they have them down there, I've seen them down there
Body parts all over thistown, what are they doing
06 Karpis (03:10)
Alvin's feelin' restless, cellblock H
A carton of smokes for 10 mintues of pleasure
Say, if I cannot have you, nobody will, if nobody will, what, nobody
No, no, no, yes, no, no, no
Yes, yes, no, no, yes, no (nobody)
Alvin's feelin' randy, ready to roll, shovin' a shiv between the shoulders
Say, if I cannot have you, nobody will, if nobody will, what, nobody
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no (nobody)
Do ya wanna (dance now??), I shaved my ass
Hey boy, I got no hair on my ass, I got no hair on my cock
I shaved my whole body, how do ya like that boy, how do ya like that boy
Hey come here, hey, come here
Alvin's feelin' randy, ready to roll, shovin' a shiv between the shoulders
Say, if I cannot have you, nobody will, if nobody will, what, nobody
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
No, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no
No, yes, no, yes, no
Nobody
No, no, yes, no, no
Nobody, no
08 Lady Shoes (02:42)
There's a girl, playing her piano, there's a little girl, playing her big piano
While her mother gives her an enema, while her mother
While her mother gives her an enema, while her mother
And then the daddy comes in and jacks off on the piano, and jacks off on the piano
And jacks off on the piano, and jacks off on the piano
Meanwhile, the local maternity ward, nurse comes in with a great big sledgehammer
She kills all the little babies, destroys the monitoring system
Says she got some time to stick around
She calls the doctor, said look what I've done
She calls the doctor, said look what I've done
She calls the doctor, said look what I've done
Doctor comes in, pops a boner and jacks off in her cap
And then the motel manager comes by
And takes a little shit in his hand, and then he takes a little shit in his hand
And then he takes a little shit in his hand
And the he puts it on like lipstick, lipstick, he puts it on like lipstick, lipstick
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