{"id":603,"date":"2007-06-14T22:37:16","date_gmt":"2007-06-15T02:37:16","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-17T21:49:32","modified_gmt":"2008-12-17T21:49:32","slug":"it-takes-four-to-rumble-heartless-bastar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/it-takes-four-to-rumble-heartless-bastar\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes Four to Rumble: Heartless Bastards vs Grinderman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LiDpMfEeo3Q?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nI\u2019ve spent a lot of time with two would-be badass albums over the last month: <strong><em>Grinderman<\/em><\/strong>, the boys\u2019 night out stooge-fest by <strong>Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds<\/strong>, and the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theheartlessbastards.com\/main.html\" title=\"http:\/\/www.theheartlessbastards.com\/main.html\">Heartless Bastards<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 album, <strong><em>Stairs and Elevators<\/em><\/strong>. Both albums come out of the gates looking for a rumble, which is fine by me in these 8-piece, grad school folkie times. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/Gray.mp3\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/Gray.mp3\">\u201cGray\u201d<\/a><\/strong> kicks off the Heartless Bastards album, throwing down a 2-chord gauntlet and making full use of the throaty, 4 Non Blondes\u2019 chick-like lead vocals of dynamo <strong>Erika Wennerstrom<\/strong>. The first time I played it in my car I kept inching up the volume, feeling certain I\u2019d reach new song nirvana. Damn, a chorus into the song I felt like pulling up to some asshole at a red light and pummeling him for the sport of it! As the song went on and the inevitable scorching solo section presented itself, however, no one stepped to the fore. OK, was this a deliberate act of post-punk economy and reserve? I tried to play along with the new economy, but every time one of these back-alley songs, such as <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/NewResolution.mp3\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/NewResolution.mp3\">\u201cNew Resolution\u201d<\/a><\/strong> and \u201cThe Will Song\u201d, came on and I anticipated a stock <strong>Johnny Thunders<\/strong> lead part or a <strong>Ron Ashton<\/strong>-inspired fuzz-wah solo there was nothing more than a few empty measures. I was reminded of my long-held belief that rock trios are usually a sign of a dysfunctional and socially inept set of musicians. In the case of Heartless Bastards, however, the powerful lead singer is a rudimentary and lone rhythm guitar player. Her drummer and bassist are adequate and committed but not enough for support in a dark alley. Somebody get Ms. Wennerstrom a lead guitarist who can provide that extra muscle that this band\u2019s music so badly requires.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zxjV5oTH_8M?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.grinderman.com\/\" title=\"http:\/\/www.grinderman.com\/\">Grinderman<\/a>, on the other hand, is a visceral blast, an aesthetes\u2019 toy chest of sexuality, brutality, sinning, fuzz-wah solos, and raunchy humor. Leave the women and children at home, my brothers, as well as the poetry, the screenplays, and the piano! Cave sports a badass Fu Manchu for this short album, and his bandmates wear the full he-man beards of their penal colony forefathers. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/GetItOn.mp3\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/GetItOn.mp3\">\u201cGet It On\u201d<\/a><\/strong> opens the album with Cave\u2019s Mr. Mojo Risin\u2019 voodoo preacher schtick and chain gang backing vocals from his bandmates. It\u2019s more of the same in the album\u2019s single, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/NoPussyBlues.mp3\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/NoPussyBlues.mp3\">\u201cNo Pussy Blues\u201d<\/a><\/strong>. In this song, when I expect to hear an orgasmic guitar solo I do! The album maintains this late-80s Aussie garage vibe through songs like \u201cElectric Alice\u201d, \u201cHoney Bee (Let\u2019s Fly to Mars)\u201d, and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/DepthChargeEthel.mp3\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/RockTownHall\/DepthChargeEthel.mp3\">\u201cDepth Charge Ethel\u201d<\/a><\/strong>, the latter the most fun song I\u2019ve ever heard from Cave. Despite all the macho artifice, this quartet\u2019s ready to rumble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve spent a lot of time with two would-be badass albums over the last month: Grinderman, the boys\u2019 night out stooge-fest by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Heartless Bastards\u2019 album, Stairs and Elevators. Both albums come out of the gates looking for a rumble, which is fine by me in these 8-piece, <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/it-takes-four-to-rumble-heartless-bastar\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}