Customer Reviews

Venus Luxure #1 Baby

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

....to play 'Learned It'. Never heard of them before, but they stopped me in my tracks. Truly one of the most concussively powerful, rocking, moments in all of my show experience. I managed to close my mouth after another song or two, bought the cd from the tour table, and after all these years, this cd resides in my 'top 50 fave' booklet. I believe this is the best example of their musical vision.

Oh, Quicksand and Helmet were great that night, too.

This was the first album i ever bought by GVSB, having heard only one song by them previously. I had no idea what to expect. I now consider this not only one of the best albums by GVSB, but also one of the best albums I have ever heard. After buying this, I went out and bought three more GVSB albums within a week. Since I didn't have a job at the time, that was a big deal for me. This album has a very dark, mysterious mood. McCloud's vocals combined with the bass-heavy approach and Fleisig's drumming create a sound you won't ever forget. If you have never listened to GVSB before, I recommend you start with this one. If you already have a different GVSB album, this should be the next album you buy

This might be my favorite GVSB recording... although Cruise Yourself--that's pretty close. This band is good at something that's very hard. They're passionate and mysteriously alluring without once being articulate or especially melodic. This succeeds where many raw garage bands fail by virtue of an upfront brawny distortion-voiced singer and a dancey band that's recorded as if live in some idealized beer-dank opium den. The vibes of this CD remind me of what myth-man Joseph Campbell once noticed, that modern society is too obsessed with meanings while more ancient cultures revered instinct and emotionalism. This is ancient culture stuff. It's groovy music for dumb moods.

The quintessential GVSB record. There's not a bad song on it. It's a crime more critics didn't list this on their Best Of The Decade list because that's what it is.

This is the first CD of GVSB I ever had, and i have to admit, the first time i played i was shaken by the way the two bass players mixed their heavy, rocking sound with the keyboard, the guitar, and drums. From Eli Janney's astounding distorted bass just filling my ears with sound, to Alexis Fleisig's impressive drum technique, i was riveted. Scott McCloud's scratchy, low singing is a feast for the ears and goes perfectly with the mood swings that exist in this CD. Johnny Temple's melodic tones as he crams his bass to the max really touched me. Their live show only accentuates them, blowing you into the wall with a tangible wall of sound. For anyone contemplating this CD, get it. It is a sound investment and you won't be disappointed.

After about a year of listening to Girls Against Boys' second album, Venus Luxure No.1 Baby, which came out back in 1993, and other random tracks by the band, I still can't put a finger on why many seem to hate them so much--as the reasons that many do not like their baroque, dance-inspired post-punk are actually the same reasons that I quite like and respect their dark and atmospheric sound.

You see, their attack is simple: Singer/guitarist Scout McCloud and his smoky voice is placed over a dual bass sound, accentuating this ferocious and suave flavor. Although this is also the same reason that many do not like the band -- McCloud's wheezy voice -- yet others believe his cigarette-coated vocals make the music have the feeling of a nightclub, as if it causes the listener to picture a cramped, lounge atmosphere, with a darkness being jutted through with hints of red, thus creating an ominous mood and making the music downright sexy, even for a hetero male, while McCloud comes fully formed, as both taut and cool as a man can get.

Venus Luxure only gets faulty when the instrumentals slow it down to a crawl, because it is in their balance between atmosphere and danceability structures that the music comes truly alluring, with an aura of mystique -- and tracks as "In Like Flynn" are great examples of a few punchy riffs put together over the course of just under four and a half minutes combining to create a turbulent, groove-oriented rockathon. Another extraordinary moment is the excellent "Bullet Proof Cupid" with its stop-and-go-again-on-a-dime structures and ratcheting drum to the backing chorus of, "Hey, hey, hey" that get the listener's juices flowing. Typical exclamation-like chorus are typically nothing more than a cheap and jivey something to get the listener to get into the band's own good times, but here it actually works, and it is just an added layer of coolness, not fodder.

This sense of full-moon frame-of-mind seems to be played to a shower of blood and runs through the band's passionate veins through an icy heart. It is both beautiful and alluring, mysterious and menacing -- like those soulful, blue-drenched nights fit for passionate lovemaking or for howling like a madman. It also shows the spectrum that post-hardcore punk rock can reach without losing its roots -- and despite its many triumphs, when G vs. B gets wobbly is often when it slows it down, such as in "Satin Down," "Get Down" and "Bughouse." When the grooves do not exist, the lyrics and McCloud's voice do not hold the foundation up that well; the listener is sadly just left waiting for hooks to emerge. Ye, they do not, and neither does the songwriting rise out of formulistic rubble. While it may be atmospheric still, it's too introverted and that's simply just not that captivating. Then, on such songs as "Let me Come Back," "Learned It" and "7 Seas," the music is actually so fast that it comes close to drowning out the mood into scatter-shot noise -- while these songs may still be quite good, it shows that G vs. B is best in their cool-and-collected mindset that rocks our world in more ways than one.

So, despite these blemishes in an otherwise fine album, Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby is still suitable as an unique mood piece -- that is, fit for just before dawn, and perfect for swinging your hips to at a nightclub, or for a kiss under a full moon.

*** 1/2 (Out of 5)

Venus Luxure is, in my opinion, GVSB's best album. It was in heavy rotation in my car for two solid years. It is simply one of my favorite albums. GVSB creates music that the listener can actually FEEL (if that makes any sense). Scott McCloud's voice is intense (and very sexy)! Kudos also to Eli Janney for being such a talented and creative musician!!!