Grinderman/ Grinderman 2

Grinderman
Grinderman II
(Mute)

It’s rare that a sequel lives up to the promise of the original. Shrek 2, anyone? Perhaps the yawn some Superman 2? But exceptions are made to prove a rule. Dig the darkness of The Empire Strikes Back, the adrenalin rush of Terminator 2, and now, in a similar lineage, the second Grinderman record – simply called, well, ‘2’.
While its precursor staggered lustily out of the shadows of the Bad Seeds like a spaghetti western bandido, G2 stands fast on a dusty highway, awaiting a misinformed drunken posse who’re desperate for a lynchin’. It also writhes with self loathing.
Naturally, the shit-kicking songs are present and correct: ‘Worm Tamer’ and ‘Mickey Mouse & The Goodbye Man’ make sure of that. But crucially there are also elements of fragile tenderness, choruses that feel angelic, and experimental ambience to provide relief from the sandstorm. ‘When My Baby Comes’ feels like an intimate gospel song, while ‘Palaces of Montezuma’ rides a psychedelic groove, but feels human at its heart.
With Cave at the reins, we get laugh-out-loud lyrics scattered throughout (“the spinal cord of JFK / wrapped in Marilyn Monroe’s negligee / I give to you”), while atonal Vox organs wrap themselves around the neck of strangled guitars, turning their wail to a guttural moan (‘Kitchenette’).
Closer ‘Bellringer Blues’ is a suitable finale, with its backwards guitars, ragas and chugging rock blues, all serving to remind the listener of whence these Real Men came and why they have dust on their shoes.
Grinderman, their representatives remind us repeatedly, are a band, not an offshoot. This recording supports the rhetoric. It’s also one of the best reasons to go for older men that I can think of.