A week or two ago, I got a package in the mail from Vu. In it were two CD's for review, and due to illness, and being really busy with other things, I kinda ended up sitting on 'em for a while. One of them caught my eye instantly, and I decided that that's the one I'm going to be talking about first.
Nuclear Lipstick by Crazy Mary has an album cover that can only be described as bizarre, in that “90's throwback” sorta way. It could probably be mistaken for a bad post-grunge CD based on the cover alone. Fortunately, that's not at all what we have here.
At its core, this is psychedelic rock, but it's done in a surprisingly (and refreshingly) strange way thanks to a combination of a fiddle player with a really unique style, the entire band sharing vocal duties, and the reverb that quite a bit of it is drowned in. You can tell that they're drawing from a pretty eclectic pool of influences. “Americanized” opens with a syncopated drum beat and fuzzed out guitar, and features probably the most political lyrics on the album. “Nuclear Lipstick” features a strange, sort of Primus-y guitar lead and sci-fi keyboards, and might be one of the more straightforward tracks on the album. “Damn Good” is an instrumental space jam with a laid back sound and a really cool bass part, and it leads quite well into the reggae-influenced intro of “Baby Don't Take it Away.” Other highlights include “That Same Old Feel Once Again,” and the instrumental, “The Dolphins are Swimming.”
Overall,
while it's not something I'd typically listen to, it's still definitely a
pretty good listen, especially in the right mood, and I'm sure quite
a few people reading this will enjoy it. Unfortunately, I don't have
any tour dates or anything to post. The band's website and MySpace
page list nothing. But I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for 'em!
-Soup
