As a William Burroughs obsessive since my early teens – I wrote both my MA dissertation and PhD thesis on his work – I always found many of the musical acts which have taken their names or otherwise referenced his work quite underwhelming (and none more than Steely Dan). I suppose the problem – if one might call it such – is that Burroughs’ writing doesn’t readily translate into other mediums especially well. Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire applied the principles of the cut-up, which he and Brion Gysin themselves took forward to tape experiments, with a certain degree of success, but ultimately, replicating the reality of the simultaneous experience of thoughts, sights, and sounds is neither easy or palatable.
This Naked Lunch, formed by Oliver Welter (vocals and guitar) in 1991, shouldn’t be confused by the English Naked Lunch formed in 1979, and who were peers of Cabaret Voltaire, DAF, and Fad Gadget. But once again, I find myself disappointed.
‘Lights and a Slight Sense of Death’ is described as ‘14-track tour de force’ and arrives a full twelve years after their last album. In its combination of indie and folk elements, delivered with a real sense of emotional engagement and with a certain lo-fi energy that keeps the bristling energy rooted in a relatable reality, it possesses both a rawness and a passion that’s impossible to deny. The tempo changes are well-placed, and there’s real range on display here, from chunky guitar-led cuts to the soaring, piano centred ballad, ‘Bring on the Lights’. This is a great album: that’s an objective fact. The compositions, the musicianship, the emotional range.. it’s all there.
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And yes, I’ve beefed about reviews where the reviewer has complained about an album for what it isn’t, rather than what it is. I’m not going to do that, but Naked Lunch certainly set false expectations of wild experimentalism – not to mention inviting confusion with the other Naked Lunch. I do wonder if Welter has read it in its entirety, of if he’s more in the company of Simon Le Bon, who wrote ‘Wild Boys’ because he liked the idea despite having not read the book – another Burroughs classic where he offers a homotopia in place of a frenzy of hangings and ejaculation.
So this is cool and all, but… Fans of the band are, of course, less likely to be disappointed.
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