ARTIST: The Jesus Lizard
TITLE: Pure
YEAR RELEASED: 1989
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: It was an EP
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Only if you were in tune with Touch & Go or Albini
LINEUP: Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, David Yow
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Debut EP from the band formed from the ashes of Scratch Acid.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: After Scratch Acid broke up, David Yow was asked by Duane Denison to play bass on some songs for a recording. Yow suggested he sing and bring on his old band mate Sims and the Jesus Lizard was born.
This EP catches the band in their early stages, with a drum machine and a tentative style. David Yow’s ‘vocals’ are rather much in place (he screams, yelps, shouts and distorts his voice more than sing), but with a drum machine the power of the group is somewhat dimmed.
Still, this is a debut that shows what the group was going to be about. And of course, with their final cut, some of what they were going to be was noisy BS, but hey, that’s their MO.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: They originally formed in Austin, but moved to Chicago before recording.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No, but on CD it was originally appended to their first full length.
GRADE: B: “Interesting”.