[kj] Positive 8/10 "Pylon" review in Classic Rock: FYI

[Alexander Smith]

PAUL RANGECROFT SPEAKS!!!

-Alex in nYC



> On Oct 2, 2015, at 3:26 PM, Paul Rangecroft <paul.rangecroft at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> "...bringing to mind The Teardrop Explodes" - eh?! That can't be right.
> 
> On 10/2/15, Rheinhold Squeegee <kjlist at live.com> wrote:
>> https://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-10-02/killing-joke-pylon
>> 
>> [http://files.teamrock.com/images/696d616765-560518690fc6b2.06476013/1280x720.jpg]<https://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-10-02/killing-joke-pylon>
>> 
>> Killing Joke: Pylon - TeamRock
>> The original line-up release their 16th album, the third in a 'triptych'.
>> Read
>> more...<https://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-10-02/killing-joke-pylon>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The original line-up release their 16th album, the third in a 'triptych'.
>> 
>> 'Our time has come!' declares Jaz Coleman on opener Autonomous Zone. Which
>> is a somewhat strange declaration from a band whose time was generally
>> considered to have been the late 70s/early 80s.
>> 
>> But then Killing Joke, Coleman in particular, were always of an apocalyptic
>> predisposition; it has probably come as a surprise to them that Western
>> civilisation had survived unscathed this far into the 21st century and
>> humanity has not been reduced to a pack of survivors poking about in
>> irradiated ashes.
>> 
>> Still, with the times presently turbulent geopolitically, as reflected upon
>> in tracks like New Cold War, there is always the chance that Coleman and co
>> will be vindicated in their heavy-duty pessimism this time round. 'Is this
>> the winter of humankind?' asks Coleman on I Am The Virus, perhaps a touch
>> hopefully.
>> 
>> In the meantime, there's much to enjoy about Pylon, not least on the
>> punitive, jet-black musical side of things. Autonomous Zone is more than a
>> return to the Joke at their gale-force finest - it reminds of what came in
>> their wake, as if they have been strengthened by feasting on the fruit from
>> their own black tree. Machine-like and remorseless, with an attendant mulch
>> of electronics, it recalls groups like The Young Gods and Nine Inch Nails,
>> the industry that grew up in Killing Joke's wake.
>> 
>> The album stretches to 15 full tracks - 16 including Snakedance, a
>> Rattlesnake dub remix by Youth (who went on to work with former Killing Joke
>> roadie Alex Paterson in The Orb), which is full of spectacular drops and
>> vistas. It suggests the culmination of a head of steam that began with
>> previous albums MMXII and Absolute Dissent.
>> 
>> The black-sky riffing of Dawn Of The Hive and Panopticon show that they
>> gather up a fast-paced storm like no one else of their era, and, as so many
>> to have emerged from the post-punk scene, they have utterly refused to
>> mellow with age.
>> 
>> Yet as the title of Euphoria suggests, as well as the Gothic portentousness,
>> there is a soaring, epic quality about much of Pylon that reminds of U2 and
>> The Cure at their big, early best, even bringing to mind The Teardrop
>> Explodes.
>> 
>> Had they been of a more conciliatory, upbeat temperament, maybe Killing Joke
>> could have had an alternative career as air-punching stadium rockers. As it
>> is, you can expect their upcoming gigs to be packed to the rafters. Their
>> time has never really gone away.
>> 
>> FINAL VERDICT: 8/10
>> 
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> Gathering mailing list
> Gathering at misera.net
> https://pairlist4.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering