A Poison Tree -- Movie Star Junkies

A Poison Tree, another great release from the Movie Star Junkies, hit the airwaves 6/4/10.  Voodoo Rhythm Records, of course, released it. 
You missed it.

Where the band's Melville release was heavily influenced, inspired and made for the writer, this release is obsessed with inner darkness and William Blake.  You can say many bands embrace the former, but the latter?  Not very likely.

From "Almost a God":  I admire the devil/For he never finishes things/I admire God/For he finishes everything. 

It's lyrics like those, mixed with sinister, yet often maudlin music that continues to impress me.  It doesn't always happen on the first listen, but it does happen.  Listening to the Movie Star Junkies is not a feel-good dance on a three-day weekend.  It's a booze-soaked fuck with a bad girl that could end in the murder of either of you.  And you like it.  Summer heat.  Sweat.  Backwoods black magic jive by men in threadbare pants and faded hats.  This is real.  This goes right where your current crop of sound-a-like puppet bands go horribly wrong.

If this band were from America and not Italy, Jack White's label would have them.  Instead, Reverend Beat-Man, who has the best ear for music in the entire fucking world, brings his pleasure to our stereos. 

I don't know how this will sell.  I'm sure Beat-Man, though concerned, is more concerned with getting it heard.  Like almost all the releases on his label, it is important.  It's some of the best music you've never heard.  Don't believe me.  Listen to "Layenda Negra" and close your eyes.  Experience it as it was meant to be ... in a dark, sick state of mind.  From that song: "In the cradle of the deep/In the prison of your ribs/There's a man that never speaks/There's a man that makes you weak."

Welcome, Junkies.  It's been two long years since you've graced our minds.  Thank you for visiting us again.

Movie Star Junkies Review Up

If you're interested, my review of the Movie Star Junkie's Mellville can be found here.

Mama Rosin's Cajun Country

Brule Lentement is the latest from Voodoo Rhythm Cajun crooners Mama Rosin. It's the band's second release, and while it lacks the fury of Voodoo's own The Monsters, it is not a weak CD by any means.

In 2008 the band did over 120 shows, including the Football Championship Opening in Vienna. That experience, along with the first album, led to 13 new songs of Zydeco, deep South swamp musings and ancient Cajun. Mix that with a little bit of inspiration from The Clash, and you can tell this won't be your standard bayou band. (And you can't miss the Velvet Underground nod, either.)

Of course, what release is complete without a cover tune? Here it is the Movie Star Junkies' "Dead Love Rag." That's a tune that starts out haunting, kicks into creepy and borders on stalkerish. (Word made up exclusively for this review.)

Another song of note is "When the Police Came." Listening to this makes you wonder how a group from Geneva can do American music more authentic than most American bands. How the hell does that happen? I know we influence other cultures perhaps a bit too much, but how can a style of music so innate to a region be picked up so clearly overseas ... in Switzerland? That's about as far removed from backwoods Louisana as you can get.

If you liked Mama Rosin's first release (and I'm sure many of you have never even heard it), you're going to like this one even more. If you haven't stepped up to Mama Rosin yet, you have to be warned. This isn't for everyone. If your tastes are fairly exclusive to, say, Metallica, this will disappoint you in ways you can't even imagine. Luckily, my tastes vary, so I get to hear the best of all worlds.