Screaming Blue Messiahs

1 E.P.
2 Albums

1985 - Good And Gone

There's no dodging initial comparisons with Dr Feelgood, a link that's underlined by Vic Maile as producer. 'Good And Gone' should really be regarded as a companion piece to the Messiahs' live blitzkrieg, but SBM still fare far better on record than did their Oil City predecessors, and in the substantial form of Bill Carter there's a mad axeman awesome enough to put the fear of God into anyone. The 'album' splits 50-50 into the camps of rhythm and blues with the staggering masterpiece 'Someone To Talk To' opening affairs on side one. This song is a total justification of the Messiahs' existence, and if they disappeared forever tomorrow they will not have laboured in vain. It's hard not to pick up the needle before track two and play this scorcher over and over again until that coronary finally cathes up with you. A song to die for.

1986 - Gun Shy

Starting off with the hyperactive pub rock sound of "Wild Blue Yonder," this is a great debut record. Taking its cues from punk rock, the Messiahs crank up the intensity with songs like "Smash the Marketplace" and the ominous "Let's Go Out to the Woods Tonight." If Gun-Shy stumbles, it's probably because it's a tad restrained (given the energy, volume, and power these guys generated live), as if it were assumed that audiences simply might not be able to handle it all at once. Still, that's a minor complaint. This record will knock you out.

1987 - Bikini Red

The Messiahs' follow-up to Gun-Shy was this devastating hunk of noise, which didn't pull any punches when it came to raw emotion and intensity. Side One, especially, is a rave-up from the gut-bustin' raunch of "Sweet Water Pools" to the closer "Big Brother Muscle." As always, Carter's obsessions are a little hard to understand, but the images and lyric fragments fly at you like shards of broken glass; you'll remember when they hit you. "I Wanna Be a Flintstone" kicks off Side Two, and it remains as funky and funny as it was the first time you hear it. Great production work by Vic Maile.