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

Paul Rangecroft paul.rangecroft at gmail.com
Sat Oct 3 05:31:35 EDT 2015


*waves across the pond*

On 10/2/15, Alexander Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 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
>>>
>>>
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