Grinderman

iTunes Editors’ Notes

It’s a long way from the first Birthday Party outing back in 1981, with Nick Cave coming off like a wild punk-savant, displaying an affinity for things religious, literary, dark, and sexual. Some 25 years later, Cave hasn’t exactly mellowed. In fact, with side project Grinderman, Cave takes a sharp detour from the natural evolution of his most recent Bad Seeds projects, and returns to the gritty, raw, amphetamine-blurred howl of a young Cave and his Birthday Party. Lyrically, a sort of knuckle-dragging misogyny permeates, and one can only hope it’s meant for a good chuckle. Distorted, scorching guitars pulse with a chaotic charge on tracks like the garage-greased “Honey Bee,” the seething “Love Bomb,” and the hilarious “Get It On;” even the ghostly and funereal “Electric Alice” and “Grinderman” feel ready to burst with manic intensity. Cave’s black humor fuels the raucous and hugely entertaining “Depth Charge Ethel” and “No P***y Blues,” where his poetic side quickly gives way to his most wry . “I Don’t Need You To” could have been lifted from The Good Son, or Tender Prey, a classic Cave hymnal celebrating freedom from love gone bad.  A must-have for Nick Cave fans.