Review: Primitive Race - Cranial Matter


    On August 10th, two years to the day that I finally got to meet Chuck Mosley (Faith No More/Bad Brains/Cement/Indoria/VUA) in person at Maggie Meyer's Irish Pub in Huntsville, AL, I received my copy of Primitive Race’s Cranial Matter in the mail. Such coincidences give me hope and kinda make me think that there might be some vague plan or consciousness behind the curtain of the universe. Cranial Matter is a remix album of tunes taken from Primitive Race’s second full-length, Soul Pretender, which featured Chuck on vocal duty. Soul Pretender was released to much critical acclaim (it was my album of the year), but Chuck passed away literally days after its release. It still stands as a landmark in his career. Now Chris Kniker and company have brilliantly pulled off an excellent tribute by creating a remix album that stands on its own from its processor, even with a couple of tunes repeated. Featuring remixes by the diverse cast of Toshi Kasai, Dave Lombardo, Dave Ogilvie, Bumblebee, The Skatenigs, Paul Leary, Angelspit, Rodney Anonymous, Kevin Rutmanis, and Ego Likeness, you can’t help but wanna check this out.
    I don't wanna spoil too much because discovery was a large part of my enjoyment during the first listen of Cranial Matter. Hell, even on my 5th repeat, I'm finding new angles. On some songs, Chuck is treated like another instrument. That description sounds bad, but any fan of old FNM can tell you that a lot of his charm was in making his unconventional holler flow in and out with the other instruments. Other tracks push his vocals into hyperfocus: listening to Leary's haunting take on "Soul Pretender", I hear more Bad Brains-ish affectations that I missed the first time around. I went back and they're totally there on the original release. Both new takes on "Bed Six" have given me a new appreciation for my least favorite tune on Soul Pretender. Before y'all break out the torches and pitchforks, a song can do a lot worse than being the weakest on THE BEST ALBUM OF 2017. The flow on Cranial Matter is sort of brilliant. The album is really a 6-song EP wrapped up with a potent new song called "Your Heart In Real Time" sung by industrial legend Chris Connolly, but then we're treated to 4 more excellent remixes. Chuck gets the last word and the Ego Likeness remix of "Nothing To Behold" wraps it all up perfectly. Bandcamp has an additional 3 more songs remixed by John Fryer, Go Fight, and Pop Will Eat itself. All of them solid. If you bought the CD, seek these out too.
    With all this electronic power, tinkering, and reevaluation (not mention guest vocals) Cranial Matter sonically comes full circle to their earlier pre-Chuck material while honoring the artist that left in the midst of what should've been a legendary comeback. Fans of Chuck Mosley, of course, will wanna check this out. Fans of Primitive Race that didn't care for the new direction of Soul Pretender might wanna give these songs another shot in these new forms. Even if you didn't pick up Soul Pretender, Cranial Matter has the atmosphere, bite, beauty, and just great songs to stand on its own. 
-Harmless



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nathan Baugh 1/15/83 - 12/24/15

Image
    Earlier this year, Guntersville, AL band The Devil's Got A Hold On Me played a show at the Glass Onion in Gadsden. I'd seen them play several times and was excited to see them tear up my local vinyl fix. Though the crowd was minimal (welcome to Gadsden!), the trio gave us their all. At least the cool people showed up. Per usual, Keith's guitar was loud and nasty and dirty and effortless. Brad killed on drums, pounding the beat with a sufficient prowess and an excess of violence. I've never heard anyone ask, "Where's the bass guitar?". The duo was, as always, tight and unhinged at the same time. And then there was Nathan...       Nate yelled into the microphone. He was always angry, hurt, determined. He mostly sang looking down. Or maybe inward. I never once saw the man sing to an audience. Never. He refused to face us beyond a passing glimpse. We were a corner into which he had backed. In reality, he was a nice guy who loved his family and frien...
Read more

Chris Lee 6/29/80 - 7/23/16

Image
    Chris Lee has passed away. Unless you knew him, I don't know if I can stress just how significant he was. If you did know him, you're heartbroken like me and you don't need anyone to tell you. But I have to write this.     Chris was the most recent singer of the long-running Huntsville Alabama metal band Envain and even before that had done his share of kicking ass with other bands for years. He was a thoughtful, intelligent man who threw all boundaries away the second he took the stage or barroom floor. He embodied the D.I.Y. punk rock aesthetic. He would sport patches and even tattoos of his favorite local bands. He loved them. When the singer of The Devil's Got A Hold On Me, Nate Baugh, passed away, and the band made the hard decision to turn an already-booked show into a tribute, Chris didn't hesitate to step up and sing. He made no attempt to copy his fallen friend, he just did everything he could to entertain. Blood, sweat, and tears literally followe...
Read more

Review(s): TOWU - Hometown

Image
[Editor's Note: I wrote two reviews for one album (this time on purpose!). The first is my REAL review. The second is a "funny" one I wrote to show members of the band as a goof.] TOWU - Hometown R.I.P., TOWU (That's short for "Rest In Peace, The Old World Underground). Gadsden's own indie-proto-post-punky band of miscreants are calling it quits, or more like moving on to other racket(s). But first they have some last minute business to attend to, that being Hometown. And what a way to wrap it up! The record opens with "Broad", with its deceptive as hell intro. Jesse Norris is frantic and rambling and probably the most confident in his voice I've ever heard. I've previously complimented their use of saxophone. It doesn't just honk in Faux-No-Wave and it doesn't cheese up everything. Dude's a proper artist. The music is scatterbrained (in a good way). Jumping from style to style a million times in a tune is a trap that...
Read more