Things started to go tits up for the Birthday Party during the recording of what would become their final studio album. 'Junkyard' was made in the midst of their drummer being fired and their bassist being jailed. Add to that Nick and Roland's creative partnership showing early signs of dissolving and you get all the ingredients for an unmitigated disaster. And yet, somehow, 'Junkyard' is something of a masterpiece. Yes, it's all over the place, angry, scary and a little bit fucked up, but it just sounded right. Big Jesus Trash Can is its highlight in my opinion, but the title track which closed the record is definitely up there. Nick growls "Honey honey honey honey..." but it sounds like "Horny horny horny horny" which might be closer to the truth. Watching (the freshly-liberated) Tracy Pew grind his hips lasciviously in this tremendous live clip, that certainly seems to fit.
The Birthday Party scared me. They still do. It really is hard to imagine that Nick Cave went from this clip to The Boatman's Call in only 15 years. Evertone would have laughed at such a prediction....
ReplyDeleteOh and 'Big Jesus Trash Can' is the Birthday Party at their best.