Teenage
Jesus And The Jerks
"Beirut Slump/ Shut And Bleed"
MVD Entertainment
By : Atavistic
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks was the brainchild of a
young Lydia Lunch who from
there would go on to a now three decade career in underground music,
art, poetry, fiction, and film. It should come as no surprise such a
prolific woman would be the instigator behind such a great and
influential (whether those who were influenced by the band knows it or
not) band. While the punk rock at the time was a lot more musical with
the speed and volume turned up, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks went an
entirely different and more unique and challenging direction. The music
is very minimalist with clangy, angular guitars, simple percussion and
Lydia’s unique voice driving the entire thing. The music will get
under your skin, and the vocals will not let you divert your attention
and will sometimes even give you goosebumps. Their first single,
“Orphans” is the finest example of how the above
ingredients made for such a great stew, but one that won’t please
everyone. The band was challenging, and thirty years later the music is
still not for the faint of heart, but it has aged wonderfully. This CD
collects everything Teenage Jesus and the Jerks recorded along with the
Beirut Slump sessions, which was another project band Lydia Lunch had
going on at the same time who only played three shows and recorded one
record. Beirut Slump featured a different, male vocalist and was
perhaps even more “out there” than Teenage Jesus. There is
also some live material that has never been released before until now.
The booklet contains some great photos and liner notes from Lydia Lunch
and Adele Bertei and even contains a pretty detailed discography. There
is a total of 29 tracks and the disc is about 50 minutes long, which is
just long enough to really piss off your neighbors if you play this at
loud volume with the windows open. It has been a pretty good summer for
Lydia Lunch fans with the release of a retrospective DVD and now with
this excellent compilation of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks material.
This CD is mandatory for anyone who considers themselves a fan of old
punk rock or someone just looking for a history lesson on underground
music. Now someone just needs to do a vinyl version of this collection!
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