Bakelite Age, The - Shoot the Messenger (Album)
It's hard to believe that a record this good was written in Sunbury. Sure, for some of those dedicated to the preservation of inanity it's observed as the birthplace of the Ashes, but since Thorpie and the Aztezs last stormed the stage it has become an infamous bogan stronghold. Enter Link McLennan, nee Meanie, and his cohorts.
Having already built a solid reputation for themselves with a couple of good records and a fine live show they have really got it right with Shoot the Messenger. Opener Camera Fizz sets the scene with overtones of 60's L.A. psych a la The Seeds and Love - a cautionary tale of the flimsiness of constructed realities with a great vocal melody and a sweetening of slide towards the end, this is a great first track, perhaps the album's best. New drummer Lochie Cavigan makes his presence felt with some nice Keith Moon-esque drumaggedon, and it should be noted that his addition to the band has greatly bolstered it's power and projection.
The slide guitar comes to the fore again in the Stones-y Psychic Mess, and Mandrill Daze changes things up with a muted synth intro that, even when the band kicks in, sounds a bit like Toto. That they manage to do this and remain palatable is testament to how good this band really is. The chorus is yet another lush grouping of minor changes, a hallmark of Link's songwriting. He is a true original, with a melodic sensibility all his own, and manages to find hooks in the strangest musical places. The careful layering of guitar on the album lends these minor excursions a harmonic richness, like a darkside Beatles with the heft of the 70's era Who.
Things get rockin' with Black Curse, its riff attack thickened with a slathering of organ. Many of the songs are bolstered by keyboard textures, and the presence of a keyboard player onstage at the launch of this album could point to this being a permanent addition to the Bakelite pallete. The marching (Everybody Knotws It's A) Crying Shame continues the 60's psych theme, the vocal melody twisting over itself like a mobius strip, and the freakout gets some cathedral reverb treatment in the Cramps-y Shedding the Pounds.
Tying the album together (there is a reference to such a locale in Camera Fizz) is the dreamy The Serotonin Sea, which bursts from a verse redolent of Incense & Peppermints into a descending fugue-like chorale which erupts further into a blazing fuzz guitar solo. It's pop Jim, but not as we know it - The Bakelite Age take all that is good about the music of the 60's and 70's and project it into the present moment.
The pounding riffage of Look Out Body Snatchers is followed by the single Crawlin' Round The Cellar, the chorus of which is yet another weird minor mobius melody that somehow comes off more like the ultimate druken pub sing-a-long track - think Wire's I am the Fly. Beers akimbo. The Harvester again brings to mind Chairs Missing with its synth-heavy textures, until such a time as the Zappa-esque marimba comes in to punctuate the chorus; it's the longest track on the record and quite different from the rest of it, the tone more sci-fi.
The religious references roll on with the swinging Jesus Versus The Id which describes the great battle for the hearts and minds of men, encapsulated in the lyric: It's just like Days Of Our Lives/When I'm about to switch off/Something happens that I don't expect. Get out more, dude. But seriously, another big chorus, another reason to buy this album. The fun winds up with the weird electro-psych of Hunted God's Future Shock (Exit Music), Link wailing away on fuzz guitar over a loopy dance beat.
It is without contest the least awesome thing about this album, but as there are an abundance of awesome things presented within the effect is minimal - despite the experimentia Don't Shoot The Messenger is more cohesive than their last effort, the production bringing out the best in the compositions. This band gets better with every gig and anyone with an ear for good rock music should check them out.
