Pure [Deluxe Remastered Reissue]

The Jesus Lizard's first formal release, this five-song EP shows that the engagingly evil minds behind Scratch Acid songs like "Mary Had a Little Drug Problem" were hardly about to change their ways, certainly not by coming up with a murky, echoed beat-fest called "Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along." The use of a drum machine on this initial release doesn't actually hurt the incipient group too much; if anything, it intensifies the brute punch of the music. Denison's freaked-out sheet-metal-abuse approach to guitar playing gets plenty of moments to rip forth; the teeth-grinding squeals of songs like "Blockbuster" and "Rabid Pigs" are hardly easy listening. Yow oddly sounds a bit distanced and mysterious at many points, almost conversational, but more than once he unleashes his ghost-of-Nick Cave breathless howl. Certainly the chorus on "Bloody Mary" will have most checking for bodies or monsters under the bed. ~ Ned Raggett