Trip merrily along with the fun-loving fellows from your favorite
noise rock band, now sadly defunct.
Bang assembles material from the
Jesus Lizard's EPs and singles, throwing in a few unreleased tracks as well. So it's not someone's idea of a best-of collection (if it were, omitting
"Nub" and
"Puss" would be inexcusable), nor is it as cohesive and powerful as 1991's tour de force
Goat. But if you don't want to go searching for the
"Mouth Breather" 7", and you simply have to hear their cover of
Trio's
"Sunday You Need Love," Bang is a more than worthwhile purchase. Speaking of
Trio, the
Lizard must have some inordinate fondness for the German
synth pop group, as
Bang also features a previously unreleased cover of
"Anna." (So where's
"Da Da Da," we wonder?) The band obviously has fun doing other people's songs, smoking through the
Dicks'
"Wheelchair Epidemic" (singer
David Yow and bassist
David Wm. Sims were originally in
Scratch Acid and were most likely influenced by the
Dicks, as they're all from Austin, TX) and a
Chrome medley that they entitle, simply,
"Chrome" (the original songs are
"TV as Eyes" and
"Abstract Nympho"). And the live tracks are appropriately blistering, like the mind-blowing
"Killer McHann," with all it's creepy lyrics and unorthodox time signatures. And
"Dancing Naked Ladies" and
"Fly on the Wall," from
Goat and
Down, respectively, vary from the versions found on those albums, making them necessary for completists. ~ Will Lerner
