KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE
ZUMA

LINKS:
killingjoke.com
People with a good memory for useless alt-rock trivia may remember that Killing Joke once sued Kurt Cobain for allegedly appropriating the guitar riff from their song “80s” for Nirvana’s assbusting-gigahit “Come As You Are” (listen to it, it’s nearly the same riff.) Apparently, the Jokesters dropped the suit after Mr. Cobain played a little joke of his own and dropped dead (sorry). And now they have a brand new album! Go buy it, they’re obviously nice dudes!

The actual bio on these guys is far too convoluted and long for anyone who doesn’t already know to really care, but I’ll try to sum it up as simply as I can. The late 70’s art-rock-turned-synth-pop band has gotten back together yet again, and this time with some guy named Dave Grohl playing drums. Coincidence? Probably not; apparently all the Nirvanas were big fans from way back, making the aforementioned lawsuit viable in the first place.
But the music! Oh the music. The only other Killing Joke that I’m familiar with is their 1980 self-titled debut LP, and from what I can hear the two records are pretty similar in songwriting style, if not production (the new album has considerably more heft in the guitar and drum department.) Mid-tempo, almost tribal rhythms are underscored by droning, repetitive guitar riffs with a slight Eastern influence (the first few seconds of “The Death & Destruction Show” are not unlike a simpler System Of A Down [!] track) while Jaz half-sings, half-shouts throaty, politically paranoid lyrics.
But fear not, gentler readers! Even as he succeeds admirably at sounding angry and serious, Jaz can’t resist yelling out at least one poppy hook into each song on the album. “Loose Cannon,” to cite an extremely melodic example, sounds like The Cure if Robert Smith grew a few extra pairs.
Thanks in part to Grohl’s unobtrusive but powerful drumming, these veteran Brits have turned out a catchy and surprisingly energetic new record without resorting to pogo-speed noise gimmickry to maintain their “edge” (I’m looking at you, Wire.)

----Ilya Malinsky