Weird War - If You Can't Beat 'Em, Bite 'Em
(Drag City)
It’s been fifteen years since Ian Svenonius fronted the Nation of Ulysses, and since then he’s attached his name to several other projects of varying worth, including Cupid Car Club and The Make-Up. By touring and recording regularly, he’s managed to keep himself and his bandmates on the musical map while simultaneously keeping his audience guessing as to what his next move might be. After releasing the eponymous Weird War record two years ago with the aid of Neil Hagerty among others, the band’s name was changed to Scene Creamers for last year’s I Suck On That Emotion. Whereas the first Weird War record sounded a bit too lax or incomplete, with ideas that could’ve used some moderate refinement, the Scene Creamers full-length was better constructed while simultaneously giving a discomforting ‘wink wink nudge nudge’ that it’s been in on a joke all along. At least the songs sounded finished, which could’ve been the result of touring together as a group before the album was recorded. Or quite possibly, they just decided to try a little harder, a trend that has continued with If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Bite ‘Em, as it manages to strike a balance between mild psych rock and danceable rant rock.
After the brief “Intro (Music For Masturbation),” which seems more like a perfectly reasonable excuse to let Michelle Mae moan into a mic for 90 seconds than a meaningful preface to the music herein contained, “Grand Fraud” opens with a few bass plunks and crunchy descending riffs, banging out a straightforward rock sound that has been largely absent from recent Ian-related releases. Ian trades lines with Michelle and Alex Minoff over the chorus, a simple trick that seems to have been underutilized in the past. Wah guitar does battle with an electric sitar that pops up to disperse solos like a sparkler sprinkler, raining shiny bits of light like a shot-out streetlamp. The tone is decidedly mellower for “Tess,” with hand drums leading flanged guitar through a vineyard of echoing cymbals and steady strumming as Ian abstracts Thomas Hardy’s eponymous heroine. The title track comes stomping through the door next, toms banging and guitars gurgling during the call-and-response verses before the snare tramples all survivors at the chorus. The vocal surprises continue with the “got to bite ‘em/can’t beat ‘em” bridge before JJ Rox (better known as Jennifer Herrema) brings added flavor with a hasty rhyme over keyboard squelches. Again the guitar tones are thick and grimy, the perfect match for singers and speakers on the track. “Moment In Time” employs a simpler style, just a minimal beat and more wah guitar as Ian imagines himself both a thief for being a lover, while “Store Bought Pot” borrows a basic drum loop to consider the legalization route.
Perhaps the only song where an actual message slips through all the pseudo-political mumbo-jumbo, “AK-47” sets off with a steady beat that gains momentum, twin wahs firing off in both ears before keyboards bust in with novel special effects and a repeating countermelody. “N.D.S.P.” may just be the downright funkiest number in the Weird War repertoire, a danceable bass-and-tom manifesto with searing, ambling guitar licks that would make Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers cop a fresh sheet of blotter to rediscover his roots. Another vocal trade-off ensues in “Chemical Rank,” Michelle’s contributions once again leading the way with the drums bouncing off of the guitar hook in the verses before easing aside for the catchy chorus. The bass drum fade out is also a nice touch. “Lickin’ Stick” has some slick slide accents that blend well with the incessant strumming and piano tinkling. The guitar solo at the bridge jumps keys unexpectedly, another one of the small strokes that seem to indicate the difference between a hastily assembled studio outtake and a structured song given some forethought. The album closer, “One By One,” is a laidback contemplative guitar stroll across a simple chord progression softly disrupted by Ian’s musings and words of encouragement near the end of the track. The rising dynamic of the ending implies a sense of hope, a positive vibe even. It’s a fitting finale to a release that signals a new high water mark for Ian’s latest musical incarnation.
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