Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 05/03/07
Label: Mute

Depending on who you listen to, this album is either (a) A riotous return to Nick Cave's garage rock roots, propelled by what appears to be a mid-life crisis; (b) An alt-rock treatise on the notion that masculinity is in freefall; or (c) A Tin Machine-style folly from a man who can be forgiven a few indulgences after decades of sterling service to quality music.

The truth of the matter is that Grinderman is no one thing, specifically. Formed to play a stripped-down version of Cave's "Nocturama" album at a press night, the four piece of Cave, and fellow Bad Seeds Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos found that they enjoyed the creative freedom the line-up afforded them, and decided to see what would happen next. A five-day writing session produced this: a record which places its trust in inspiration, wandering from style to mood with no greater purpose than to try something else for a change.

So, yes, there are noise-driven forays into Birthday Party-style garage rock. "Get It On" is all rhythm and fuzz, a chest-beating, tub-thumping exhortation to, well, get it on. "Depth Charge Ethel" chases a similar mood, with a menacing organ riff and some sweet backing vocals. "Honey Bee (Let's Fly To Mars)" could be a lost Nuggets outtake, more fuzz and organ with Cave literally buzzing like a bee. Basements the globe over have been rocking to this kind of racket for years.

But then there are songs from a different songbook, and dimension, entirely. "Electric Alice", built around a haunting sample from Warren Ellis, is hypnosis in three brooding minutes: flickering neon signs, the distant sound of a freight train, the terrible stillness of a remote motel. The title track - which reproduces imagery from "Electric Alice" - puts us in the shoes of whatever was lurking in the shadows in the previous song. "When My Love Comes Down" offers more electric storm atmospherics: you can almost feel the air crackling.

What does it all mean? Cave may pit himself as a man losing a grip on his masculinity in the face of an indifferent woman in "No Pussy Blues" and "Love Bomb" (the former has him doing the washing up in marigolds, the latter listening to "Woman's Hour"), but really there's no grand statement beyond a joy in the (deliberately comic) images. Is this the woman-done-me wrong tradition of classic blues updated for the touchy feely 21st century? Or just whatever felt right at the time?

Ultimately, Grinderman is just a way for Cave to release more music. Some songs - like the gorgeous "Man In The Moon" and the rich, emotional "I Don't Need You (To Set Me Free)" - could have easily appeared on a Bad Seeds album. Others - like the glorious, uplifting "Vortex", which appeared on early promos of the record - have been taken off and saved for just that purpose. The muse is clearly at home to Mr Cave. So when creativity's flowing this easily and satisfactorily, it seems slightly churlish to ask what it's for. Only: when's the next instalment?

    by Ian Watson