The Jesus Lizard

The Jesus Lizard was a rock music group formed in 1987 in Chicago, Illinois. The band took their name from a common nickname for the basilisk, a type of lizard that can run on water. While never finding much mainstream success, The Jesus Lizard have been called "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground ... (who) turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial noise, all of which received positive reviews in underground music publications and heavy college-radio play."{{ref|erlewine}}

Related Topics:
Rock music - 1987 - Chicago, Illinois - Basilisk - Water - Noise rock - Underground - Industrial - College-radio

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After the breakup of Scratch Acid, singer David Yow and bassist David Wm. Sims recruited Duane Denison (guitar). The trio called themselves The Jesus Lizard; the group used a drum machine for their earliest recordings and performances, before adding Mac McNeilly (drums). McNeilly was later replaced by Jim Kimball in 1996.

Related Topics:
Scratch Acid - David Yow - David Wm. Sims - Duane Denison - Drum machine - Mac McNeilly - Jim Kimball

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Their music was a scathing mix of piercing guitar, machine-like drums, propulsive bass guitar, and psychotic vocals, often reminiscent of The Birthday Party. Denison's stinging guitar often served more as texture or coloring than as a melody instrument, while the rhythm section's stops and starts were simultaneously precise and brutal. David Yow's frenzied, often incoherent vocals were quite unique, unlike anything past or present. David Sprague suggests that "Yow's disjointed couplets" are reminiscent of a "preacher speaking in tongues."http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=jesus_lizard

Related Topics:
The Birthday Party - Rhythm section - Couplet - Preacher - Speaking in tongues

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Through 1994, the Jesus Lizard's studio recordings were recorded and engineered by Steve Albini; he was an avid fan, and his distinctive recording techniques have arguably never been better employed than with the Jesus Lizard. Albini typically keeps vocals "low in the mix," or much less prominent than is typical of rock and roll recordings. In Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azzerrad writes that "on the Jesus Lizard albums Albini recorded, singer David Yow sounds like a kidnap victim trying to howl through the duct tape over his mouth; the effect is horrific." (Azzerrad, 344){{ref|azerrad}}

Related Topics:
1994 - Steve Albini - Our Band Could Be Your Life - Kidnap - Duct tape

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In 1994, The Jesus Lizard signed a contract with Capitol Records, an action which caused a falling out with Albini, famous for his dislike of major record companies. After two records with Capitol, a song on the "Clerks. soundtrack, and appearances at Lollapalooza, the Jesus Lizard returned to Touch and Go records for their final album. The band split in 1999.

Related Topics:
Capitol Records - Clerks. - Lollapalooza - 1999

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After the split some of the members moved on to other bands. Denison plays with Tomahawk, and with Kimball in the Denison Kimball Trio (which is actually a duo.)

Related Topics:
Tomahawk - Denison Kimball Trio

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