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(Feb 28, 2005)
The Gris Gris: (self-titled)
Rating - ***
The Gris Gris page
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"Raygun," the first song on this CD absolutely blew me away. It's over eight
minutes in length, rich in acidic lyrics ("But how ... is ... my SKIN?"), reverb,
and sinister sound effects. It would have made The Gris Gris the
debut album of the year so far if only they had kept up the intensity. Alas,
there are only two other tracks that come close to living up to the promise
of "Raygun": "Everytime," and "Best Regards."
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The group is the brainchild of Greg Ashley, whose most recent effort
before the present one, entitled Medicine F*** Dream, is something I
definitely have on my must-find list. It's hard to learn much about
Ashley on the internet, except for stuff that is obviously promotional
in nature. You don't need to have much background on him to know that he has
a very original streak in him and possibly just a pinch of genius here or there. The
problem is that the genius may be limited to one musical sound, albeit a very
trippy one. The three songs mentioned above all are delightfully weird, but all
weird in the exact same direction away from the axis.
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The rest of the songs on the CD work to some degree but they don't really make me
want to go back for repeated listenings. For example, the fourth track is a little
acoustic number with the refrain "Me queda um bejou," which, if I'm not mistaken,
is Portuguese for "Oh shit, I'm running out of ideas for this album." That's followed
by something that sounds like what musicians play onstage between songs while waiting
for their roadies to bring 'em fresh beers. Followed by another slow one. Finally,
when you're just about to doze off into a coma, "Best Regards" comes back and
reminds you, "Hey, I'm a genius, wake up, damn you!" Then a couple of little acoustic
ditties and the CD that starts with such an incredible BOOM dies with barely a
whimper. I still recommend it, though, just to hear its awesome one-two punch.
And I hope that Mr. Ashley finds some more secret rooms in that haunted house of
his mind.
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