Unbelievable! For once we completely agree with HUMO! Because what did 'nq' recently write about 'Cipher', the latest from Slim Cessna's Auto Club :
**** 'This is the country band that plays the bar at the end of the world.' That's how Jello Biafra, label boss of Alternative Tentacles, describes Slim Cessna's Auto Club, the six member country ensemble for which he releases records.
Smooth promo talk? No way! Mr Biafra, once frontman of Dead Kennedys, was and is pure integrity on much too short legs, so if he signs a band you can be sure that he's really a fan. We can also confirm that he possesses an excellent set of ears: this 'Cipher' gives you everything that Sixteen Horsepower ever promised you and much much more, because SCAC is better, more varied and just as possessed... by God, the devil, drink and whatever else: prepare yourself for the Eternal Barbecue below because you missed their first three records! We'll come and keep you company.
The theme behind 'Cipher' is the short hymn 'An Introduction to the Power of Braces', a harmony that returns four times in slightly different form. It sounds like a cheerful get together – until you listen to the lyrics. In some tracks (the fantastic conga 'This Land Is Our Land Redux'!) you can feel the influence of David Eugene Edwards, with whom various band-members have shared a stage, but the difference is in the details: In 'Children of the Lord' suddenly an electric guitar goes wild, 'SCAC 101' builds up like the sort of slow dance to which aunties at weddings trapped you in their bosom, and here and there are more winks than would be permitted in the old-testament world of Reverend Edwards. Take note of the interaction between slim Cessna and second frontman Jay Munly in 'Boom Magalina Hagalina Boom', a lyrical and musical gem that doesn't take itself too seriously either. Or grant yourself a good laugh with 'Jesus Is in My Body: My Body Has Let Me Down' or 'That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense in a Country Dress': the sort of humour with which Frank Zappa also distinguished himself from his too serious colleagues in the seventies. To summarize: SCAC has it all, from musical craftsmanship to lyrical finesse to cheap humour and party vibes that make us look forward to the apocalypse. That only leaves us to say that their songs can most likely only sound better on stage . If that's in a bar at the end of the world or in a field near Hasselt – the end of the world in a way – doesn't make that much difference. Hahaha & hola!
Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Americado