the Jesus Lizard with producer Andy Gill, Velvet Underground viola player John Cale and experimentalist Jim O'Rourke (Gastr del Sol) to achieve a more subtle, ambient feel on EP. Look for moodier but similarly intense sound, sans the screaming, for five-song EP and upcoming album

Addicted To Noise Senior Writer Gil Kaufman reports :

Maybe Jesus Lizard shrieker David Yow has had enough of the relentless screaming and ranting that has characterized the band's sound over the years. The band's newest in-your-face material apparently takes on a more toned-down feel -- if you can call it that -- and that's just fine with Yow. "We didn't want it as in-your-face and straight-forward rock 'n' roll as in the past," singer Yow, 37, said about the new, untitled EP (Feb. 17) on which he even steps aside for a few instrumentals. To achieve a less raucous sound, Jesus Lizard chose to work with producer/former Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill on both the EP and their upcoming full-length album, Blue (April 21), because Yow said they were looking for a moodier, but still intense sound that would not rely on what Yow called his usual "flagrant screaming and ranting."

And while the Jesus Lizard may have let up on the accelerator a bit on a recently released, self-titled five-song EP on Jetset records, that isn't to say the band has gone soft. The opening track on the EP, "Cold Water", is a thrashing, frantic rock tune over which Yow maniacally frets about the "six inches of cold water" in the basement, which the wheelchair-bound narrator fears will overtake him at any moment. The track, along with the off-kilter, sing-songy scrape of "Inflicted by Hounds," is classic Jesus Lizard, with guitarist Duane Denison throwing off grinding riffs while bassist David Sims holds the track down with double-time, thudding bass. Meanwhile, Yow stutters out his claustrophobic lyrics with nerve-racking intensity.

New drummer Jim Kimball, who replaced Mac McNeilly last year, brings the same aggressive attack to his playing as his predecessor, adding a bit of a raw, tribal touch to the desperate funk of "Eye Sore."

Still, experimenting with a more subtle, even ambient sound -- thanks to their new association with Gill, as well as with former Velvet Underground viola player John Cale and fellow Chicago experimentalist Jim O'Rourke (Gastr del Sol) -- the band explores new territory, with head agitator Yow taking a breather on a few instrumental songs. "I feel like there's a lot of parallels between Gang of Four and Jesus Lizard in certain aspects," Gill said of the collaboration, on which he even encouraged Yow to bring his vocals further up in the mix. "Certainly [Yow's] lyrical approach has certain parallels with Gang of Four, some of his imagery, analogies and symbolism sort-of reminds me of certain aspects of Gang of Four, which, frankly, doesn't happen every day."

The band explores less familiar territory on the fourth and fifth tracks, both instrumentals; the latter, "Needles for Teeth", was remixed by O'Rourke and Cale as a Tortoise-like ambient sound-collage. "Andy would say [adopting an English accent] 'David, could you do it with more attitude?' And I would say, 'No, I can't. I've done that a thousand times,' " Yow said. "We wanted to do more experimenting than in the past and that particular kind of remix stuff is pretty new to us."

Jesus Lizard was into Gill's ideas about using drum loops and other studio tricks to widen their sound, bassist Sims said, mainly because they didn't want to repeat the signature full-bore attack they'd perfected with former Rapeman leader/noise-producer Steve Albini, with whom they recorded with exclusively until their 1996 Capitol Records debut, Shot. "We just counted on the mix to work," Sims said. "And since he's a musician and everyone in the band appreciates and likes his music, we hoped he'd have lots of good ideas." [Sat., Jan. 31, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]

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