BABES IN TOYLAND –
PAINKILLERS (SOUTHERN RECORDS)
I bought this mid
price album one day with the last few coins in my pocket. It was a used copy from Time Records in Colchester and thus I was able to afford it. And as a result I had to forgive and forget
the creased booklet.
When I discovered real
music I must concede much of my education came from MTV, which back in the
early 90s actually played videos that actually featured real people playing
real instruments and making real music.
The flagship show was always 120 Minutes and for a young newbie it
representing a world that was terrifying.
The acts were scary and so were the people that liked it. At the time grunge was breaking and thus this
music was somewhat more salient to the audience than any other era past or
present. And during the daily
advertisement for the weekly edition of 120 Minutes Babes In Toyland would
feature singing “He’s My Thing” being somewhat representative of Riot Grrrl and
revolution. I heard that clip of the
song for what felt a million times. I
was hooked.
“He’s My Thing” is the
lead track on this mini album cum live album.
Following hot on the heels of the successful Fontanelle
it is five studio tracks followed by an eleven song live set recorded at CBGBs
in New York
All in all this is a
release that doesn’t make much sense coming so close to the release of
Fontanelle. Was it belief that the band
was so hot at that moment there was a decent buck to be made? Was the material considered THAT good it would
be wrong not to release it? Or was it
some kind of get out of contract act/obligation?
Moving on with the
studio efforts “Laredo
And on the subject of
sound the live recording is very good, very solid. CBGBs always had a good recording system in
place and I know other bands that recorded live albums there.
Kicking off with
“Bruise Violet” (obviously) here is a band that sounds like their record
suggesting that either Fontanelle managed to capture this live sound or that
they were a dull live act. I prefer to
think the former.
From here Bjelland
screams and gurns her way through proceedings as Lori thumps away as both
elements perhaps serve to dilute the might of the guitar offering something of
a subtly more whimsical take on proceedings.
By the time the band
is playing “Magick Flute” they have royally warmed up and as the echoed trauma
of “Real Eyes” fills the venue it offers an uneasy sensation. Then in the aftermath Lori adds a disturbing
drunk mantra which I still remember clearly from the night I saw them in Colchester .
Soon they are lashing
out with “Spun” before it all ends with an uncompromising pairing of “Mother”
and “Handsome & Gretel”, two songs that truly define the band.
It’s a nice place to
visit but I wouldn’t want to live here.
Thesaurus moment:
dessert.
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