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Dead Men Tell No Tales
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Dead Men Tell No Tales
Current price: $24.99
Barnes and Noble
Dead Men Tell No Tales
Current price: $24.99
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After the critical success of
Nikki Sudden
's collaboration with
Dave Kusworth
on the two
Glass Records
-issued
Jacobites
records -- self-titled and
Robespierre's Velvet Basement
in 1984 and 1985 --
Creation Records
signed
Sudden
. Though no longer working with
Kusworth
, he continued to use the band's name.
Texas
, issued in 1986, featured a full band with brother and drummer
Epic Soundtracks
, bassist
Duncan Sibbald
, and help from
Rowland S. Howard
on slide guitar and feedback. It too was well-received, particular for its single "Jangle Town," the ballad "Death Is Hanging Over Me," and a cover of
Neil Young
's "Captain Kennedy's Lament." By contrast, 1987's
Dead Men Tell No Tales
is a shock. Legend has it that
told
Creation
of his plans to cut 200 songs for his next album and keep the best, but was told this wasn't financially feasible. No matter the credibility of the tale, what he turned in was a 27-minute, eight-track set culled from three years of recording. Unlike the band's taut balance of rockers and ballads from the previous album,
Dead Men
feels very much like a loose solo affair, though
Sibbald
and
Howard
are credited. Mostly it's
on guitars, dulcimer, and bouzouki, with sparsely utilized percussion, harmonium, and organ. "When I Cross the Line" is one of his finest ballads and vocal performances. An exceptionally dark love song, it's narrated by a man so grieved for his departed beloved, he claims he'll drink himself to death -- yet in the end knows he won't. It sounds like it's from an earlier
session due to its relatively high fidelity and finished production. "Before I Leave You" and "How Many Lies" both sound like they came from yet another studio date due to a leaner sound, yet the mix seems finished.
's way with a twisted romantic narrative is in fine form on both songs. On the former, organ, 12-string, bouzouki, dulcimer, and strummed six-string frame his layered fragile vocals. On the latter, slide guitar, lead acoustic, dulcimer, tambourine, and chord organ create the perfect backdrop for his protagonist's impossible conundrum. "Dog Latin" and "Dog Rose" are rough, seemingly improvised Eastern-tinged drones (each less than a minute) that serve alternately as intro and outro to "(Girl with The) Wooden Leg," a wry acoustic ballad drenched in feedback and reverb. It's one of the three selections that feel more like demos than finished tracks. The others are the lovely "Cupful of Change" and the desolate, nearly seven-minute closer, "Kiss at Dawn," where
gets to do his sonic, post-psych thing on guitar. It's one of the eeriest tracks in
's catalog. As bent and dark as it is,
is thematically consistent, but not as focused as his very best work, yet as an album it remains a necessary -- if transitional -- part of his discography. ~ Thom Jurek
Nikki Sudden
's collaboration with
Dave Kusworth
on the two
Glass Records
-issued
Jacobites
records -- self-titled and
Robespierre's Velvet Basement
in 1984 and 1985 --
Creation Records
signed
Sudden
. Though no longer working with
Kusworth
, he continued to use the band's name.
Texas
, issued in 1986, featured a full band with brother and drummer
Epic Soundtracks
, bassist
Duncan Sibbald
, and help from
Rowland S. Howard
on slide guitar and feedback. It too was well-received, particular for its single "Jangle Town," the ballad "Death Is Hanging Over Me," and a cover of
Neil Young
's "Captain Kennedy's Lament." By contrast, 1987's
Dead Men Tell No Tales
is a shock. Legend has it that
told
Creation
of his plans to cut 200 songs for his next album and keep the best, but was told this wasn't financially feasible. No matter the credibility of the tale, what he turned in was a 27-minute, eight-track set culled from three years of recording. Unlike the band's taut balance of rockers and ballads from the previous album,
Dead Men
feels very much like a loose solo affair, though
Sibbald
and
Howard
are credited. Mostly it's
on guitars, dulcimer, and bouzouki, with sparsely utilized percussion, harmonium, and organ. "When I Cross the Line" is one of his finest ballads and vocal performances. An exceptionally dark love song, it's narrated by a man so grieved for his departed beloved, he claims he'll drink himself to death -- yet in the end knows he won't. It sounds like it's from an earlier
session due to its relatively high fidelity and finished production. "Before I Leave You" and "How Many Lies" both sound like they came from yet another studio date due to a leaner sound, yet the mix seems finished.
's way with a twisted romantic narrative is in fine form on both songs. On the former, organ, 12-string, bouzouki, dulcimer, and strummed six-string frame his layered fragile vocals. On the latter, slide guitar, lead acoustic, dulcimer, tambourine, and chord organ create the perfect backdrop for his protagonist's impossible conundrum. "Dog Latin" and "Dog Rose" are rough, seemingly improvised Eastern-tinged drones (each less than a minute) that serve alternately as intro and outro to "(Girl with The) Wooden Leg," a wry acoustic ballad drenched in feedback and reverb. It's one of the three selections that feel more like demos than finished tracks. The others are the lovely "Cupful of Change" and the desolate, nearly seven-minute closer, "Kiss at Dawn," where
gets to do his sonic, post-psych thing on guitar. It's one of the eeriest tracks in
's catalog. As bent and dark as it is,
is thematically consistent, but not as focused as his very best work, yet as an album it remains a necessary -- if transitional -- part of his discography. ~ Thom Jurek
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