The Blue Velvet Underground & Frank Booth
SEX, DRUGS, ROCK 'N Roll (Guava, 2003)

Another in a growing line of intriging releases from the Guava Records catalog. This release, obviously tipping the hat to David Lynch's film BLUE VELVET and the Velvet Underground, continues the Guava tradition of intricately sampled and psychoticly humorous offerings. In this case, dialog from Frank Booth, Lynch's most unhinged villian, introduces the three songs:

• "Sex (Nitrous Oxide Mix) which is a loopy cover of "Blue Velvet"
• "Drugs (Fatal Mix)" aka "Waiting For The Man"
• "Rock 'N' Roll (AM Radio Mix), a wacked version of "Rock & Roll"

The first song, following the innocuous "Lumberton" Chamber of Commerce ditty from the film, calls to mind the Residents "Goosebumps" release in the way it twists "Blue Velvet" into a innocent, childlike but always sinister trip into the seemingly banal - much like the spirit of Lynch's film.

After some dialog from the "Joyride" section of the film (which preceeds the horrific assault of Jeffery to the sounds of "In Dreams"), a performance of "Waiting For The Man" that sounds for all the world like it's been processed through Frank's gas mask and broadcast out of the tape player of his car. The slightly helium-injected vocals and the clangy ring-modulated riffing again bring the Residents to mind.

Music to bounce Granny's head off the table to.

Posted 22 June 03