Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

[Bleakest Harvest]

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Mute - CDSTUMM277 - 3rd March, 2008
By Paddy Walsh



Nick Cave's run of introspective, piano-led albums may have come to a sudden halt with 2004's Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus double-set, but it is Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! which sees Cave return to the sardonic baladeering which had permeated his work up to Murder Ballads. Cave carefully remains detached from the protagonists and subjects of his ire throughout, with only 'Hold onto Yourself' and the violin laden 'Jesus of the Moon' offering a glimpse into his penchant for forlorn lovesongs. Elsewhere the garage-rock of his 2007 Grinderman side-project heavily informs this album, with juddering, clangy guitars skittering all over the songs adding a pulsating energy that is as much at odds with The Boatman's Call as it is Henry Dream's apocalyptic tales.

Yet even though Cave is obviously more at ease with both himself and the world these days, his merciless wit and cynicism is rife on this album. The title track tells the lamentable tale of the biblical grave-hopper as he is thrust into modern New York, charting his descent into debauchery, fame and ultimate ghetto ruin. Elsewhere, 'We Call Upon the Author' is a fist-shaking rant at god, Cave hysterically listing the world's ills and demanding an explanation. Lyrically this is one of Cave's best - he melds the bile of his youth with a nworld-weary, sag-like quality that often invokes one of his most obvious influences in Leonard Cohen.

The Bad Seeds, as ever, are a reliably off-kilter bunch, the trashy guitars, hard hitting drums and disciplined basslines form the backbone, whilst frequest keyboard interjections add a vintage touch to proceedings that at times even recall the swirling cacophany of The Doors. Whilst old Nick has long since exorcised the angry demons that infused his work up to Murder Ballads, there remains a playfully dark cynicism to his observational lyricism, much to Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!'s benefit, so that fans of the Aussie troublemakers will find much to get their teeth stuck into here.

Official Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Website
Official Mute Records Website