How many Bad Seeds does it take to make the Bad Seeds? Obviously more than three, since this album featuring Nick Cave alongside Warren Ellis, Martyn Conway and Jim Scavunos was released as Grinderman in 2007.
As an avid consumer of all things Cave at the time I bought it, and don't remember either being blown away by it or hating it, and doubt I've played it in a decade.
After one listen, it feels like Nick Cave and Some Seeds being experimental, perhaps testing the water without Mick Harvey's input (as would be the case in the next NC&BS album), with more raw arrangements of songs, and looser, more explicit lyrics. Opener Get It On is angry, in your face, strong musically but with a very thin arrangement, while No Pussy Blues works in the confines of this group, without necessarily being a Bad Seeds song. Electric Alice is a grower, with a haunting accompaniment (bouzouki?) more rewarding with each listen. Grinderman feels a bit of a dirge, but Depth Charge Ethel is a bit more rocking, if a little lightweight. A little slower, Go Tell The Women is quite an infectious little ditty with interesting lyrics, and I Don't Need You To Set Me Free feels like a very ordinary Bad Seeds number. Honey Bee is much more lively and exciting, then Man In The Moon is a short, slow number, very reminiscent of Bad Seeds in the As I Sat Sadly album. The album comes to an end with the decidedly average When My Love Comes Down, rescued by the final track, the banging Love Bomb.
Taking it as an experimental album, there's a lot that works well, but I'm not sure there's more than a couple of these songs which would have made the first team in getting on to a Bad Seeds album. Nevertheless, it's an album I'll return to, with much to enjoy.
3* - not classic Nick Cave, but enough to make this an enjoyable listen
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