The Jazz Butcher

Big Planet Scarey Planet

Creation Records

The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, those iconoclasts of British politics, have produced another intriguing effort. It's evident that the band has slowly but surely risen from their image as a post-Bauhaus band. As of late they have had to cope with the loss of JBC mainstay Max Eider, who has been estranged from them for the past year or so.

Despite these problems, Big Planet Scarey Pianet is a continuation on their much travelled road of social and poUtical consciousness.

"Bicycle Kid" originated from Fish watching the temper tantrum of an eleven-year-old. It's a return to the boppy style seen in their previous hit "The Devil Is My Friend," which just let loose and tried to enjoy itself. Lyrics like "Bicycle Kid grow up and get worse / Bicycle Kid forget to use a condom / Bicycle Kid! / It's evolution in reverse," show that they have not lost their quirky sense of humor.

This album has expanded upon the usual heavy bass and guitar jangle that epitomizes the JBC sound. The driving rhythms of "Burglar Love" and ""The Word I Was Looking For' explore these more forceful sounds.

Of the more political efforts, the opening track, "New Invention," has a rift that is reminiscent of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It voices Fish's disdain for the hardline conservative politics of his native England.

Besides the lack of prevalent sax work so typical of past Jazz Butcher efforts. Big Pianet Scarey Planet encompasses all aspects of the JBC's multifaceted persona. It will entice those unfamiliar with their work to indulge themselves in its revelry while satisfying the hungers of their poetically dissatisfied fans.

ANDREW THOMPSON

Big Planet, Scarey Planet

Early 1989 was, indeed a strange and desperate time after all that triumphalist Tory looting that had been going on. We listened to a lot of hip-hop and soul music at the time, and I think that we considered ourselves sufficiently HARD to take the whole fucker on in an l.p. Possibly with a more "clued-in" producer and a bit more self-discipline we could have come up with something like what we were looking for.

creation_records, Genius