Surgery Music Cd

Warlock - Surgery

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Surgery      Artist : The Warlocks      List Price : $11.98 USD        Your Price : $11.98 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 2005-08-23      Studio : Mute U.S.      Label : Mute U.S.      Avg. Customer Rating : (8 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Surgery      They operate like no one else you know      Rating:      "Surgery" is The Warlocks' line drawn in the sand. On the other side are the 12-minute jams, sprawling acoustic psych freakouts ('House of Glass' from "Rise and Fall" as a prime example) and lo-fidelity sound quality that recalled both the sleazy English 80s (Spacemen 3 et al) and the late 60s Northwest garage rock scene. On this side are shorter bursts of muscular and decisively riff-laden shards, and a noticeable improvement in sound quality. Few bands could pull off such a staggering transformation, and Warlocks are one of them. Where Warlocks sounded like true 60s revivalists on "Rise and Fall" and "Phoenix" they now sound like modern bands that cite the 60s as an influence but sound more like the 80s underground, i.e. Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dandy Warhols, BRMC. The ultra-catchy 'Just Like Surgery' steals a page from the Jesus and Mary Chain's playbook but substitutes the howling feedback with mid-fretboard power chords and an infectious lead riff. This song alone is worth the price of admission. Producer Tom Rothrock did some tinkering and brought lead 'Lock Bobby Hecksher's pop songwriting instincts to the fore, and to fairly astounding effect. 'Gypsy Nightmare' carries some atmospheric background guitar lines behind the din and 'Angels in Heaven...' is akin to a doo-wop send-up or prom night slow dance that lifts some notes from Modest Mouse's 'Sleepwalkin.' 'Thursday's Radiation' harkens back to the sprawling/shimmering dirges of previous albums and will satiate long-time fans while providing newbies a taste of what they've missed. Unfortunately 'The Tangent' drops an anchor into the middle of the album (and I believe it's one of a few songs Hecksher wanted to leave off the album), but it's rescued by 'Evil Eyes Again' (JAMC-styled pop), 'Above Earth' (bottom of the well slowcore) and 'Bleed Without You Babe' (slow-paced two-note blues with guitar explosions), which are notable standouts. 'Suicide Note' closes the album with one of the Warlocks' patented expansive jam sessions, though it's cut in half and a slithering bonus track closes the last five minutes of the 12-minute running time. A few misses here ('The Tangent' and 'We Need Starpower' seem tossed off rather than fleshed out), but there are enough bullseyes here to keep your attention and prod newcomers seek out the Warlocks' outstandig earlier efforts.     Customer Reviews for Surgery Cd      Not the critics, darling      Rating:      I remember all the psycho-gothic drone bands of the 80's and 90's. I've got plenty of Spacemen 3, Love & rockets and Jesus and Mary Chain albums, etc. etc. I also can dig BJM and BRMC. I don't let it bother me that the Warlocks share black eyeliner with these bands. If you look around at all the reviews of this album, you may encounter alot of negative stuff about the Warlocks. Let it go. They are worth the price of admission. They trace a musical pedigree back past Velvet Underground and aren't afraid to do space doo-wop. There previous albums have sharper highs and more dangerous lows, but this album is grandiloquent. I've had it since the day it came out and I'm still listening to it every few days and I have a lot of CDs to chose from. Do yourself a favor if you like any of the bands I mentioned above. Get this one. Editorial Reviews for Surgery Audio Cd      Amazon.com      One of the few bands to give neo-psychedelia a good name, this Los Angeles-based band, have lifted the veil a little on their fuzzed-out Jesus and Mary Chain drones that colored their earlier two albums, cutting down some of the excessive white noise and equally excessive track lengths in an effort to be--dare we say--a little more accessible to the casual fan. But perhaps that careful editing of the Warlock's confused and messy muse had everything do with the fact that the band employed Tim Rothrock (Beck, Badly Drawn Boy) to man the boards on their third offering--and to his extreme credit, Rothrock has been able to streamline the Warlock's rare and idiosyncratic genius. Their odd occult hybrid of the Walkman, the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and the Shangri-La's produces brainy esoteric and unapologetic music that forces fans to wade through psychic lethargy, ennui, and abject depression--to get to the other side. But in that distant musical shore lays true enlightenment. Singer Bobby Hecksher doesn't shy away from telling the truth, whether it be his former druggy past, ("Come Save Us" "Bleed Without You Babe,") or the aftermath of crippling heartbreak ("Like Surgery"), or even living without hope ("Suicide Note"). But whatever the malaise, the Warlocks have prevailed with their strange, rude magic, continuing to cast a spell on listeners. -- Jaan Uhelszki