Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 07/09/1998
Beginning an album career with an utterly schizophrenic double album that ran the gamut from reinterpretations of
Led Zeppelin songs with Chinese lyrics to such zingily titled rants as
"David Bowie Wants Ideas" might not seem like the most sane approach. Then again,
Bongwater were one insane group.
Kramer and
Magnuson's screwy take on
art rock á la
Henry Cow or early
Faust is fairly overwhelming, though perhaps this is the whole point. With the help of
Kramer's fellow
Shockabilly vet
David Licht on drums and
King Missile guitarist
Dave Rick, not to mention
free jazz legend
Don Cherry on a cut or two, the duo cranks up the overall weirdness factor, whether quiet or loud, to great effect. One definite carryover from
Kramer and
Licht's
Shockabilly days is a fondness for tweaked reinterpretations of older tunes.
Gary Glitter's
"Rock and Roll, Pt. 2," Michael Nesmith's
"Just May Be the One," and
the Beatles'
"Love You Too" and
"Rain" are among some of the victims, at points rendered unrecognizable.
Johnny Cash's
"There You Go," however, gets a lovely, straightforward take. The musicians' overall abilities are quite impressive; given all the recording took place at
Kramer's hole-in-the-wall studio, everything sounds pretty sharp throughout, and the use of various multi-tracking and production tricks fills out
Double Bummer very well.
Magnuson, though, steals the show with both her strong singing and witty, nutty
spoken word pieces.
"Decadent Iranian Country Club" recounts a dream set at such a location -- "pre-Ayatollah," she carefully notes -- with a sweetly off semi-whisper over an increasingly queasy guitar arrangement. As for the
Bowie number, she details receiving a form letter from the Thin White Duke accidentally inviting her to contribute to a new album before meeting
David Byrne out of nowhere and drinking perfume, the band doing a weird-ass
psych jam behind it all. The CD version includes a three-song epilogue, the
Breaking No New Ground EP, and a single featuring covers of
Roky Erickson's
"You Don't Love Me Yet" and
the Monkees'
"The Porpoise Song." ~Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
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