ZapTown

Jesus Lizard
Lash
1993 – Touch and Go

Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Style: Alternative, Indie Rock

It’s often difficult to make claim to the importance of an EP, especially when many of them are used as simple marketing strategies and the exploitation into what became the extended single. But for Jesus Lizard’s Lash — much like the EP Pure in 1989 — this album was as important a release as the full length Liar was the previous year.

Out of Lash came one of their most important songs of their career and the song “Glamorous.”

Jesus Lizard’s ‘Almost Live’ Performance of ‘Glamorous.’

“Glamorous” is not just typical Jesus Lizard prowess, but it single-handedly signifies everything that makes Jesus Lizard great: tight, abrasive, power-prosed time signature. If this stand-out song is not enough to stake claim on Lash being one of the more important indie albums of the ’90s, then the proof that this band can correlate perfectly between a studio and live recording is flawlessly important to the short list of songs.

Most of this almost 17-minute release is taken from live performances in 1990 and 1992 (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gnfyxq8gldde). Not only is the sound equally competitive, but the power and intensity remains high on both ends. The constant insanity of the conveyor-belt bass thrusting on “Monkey Trick” in syncopated time signatures are enough to put you in an unconditional trance. You can feel just how amazing this band works together under strained musical parallels of form and function, control through chaos.

On the other hand, “Killer McHann” is an epileptic fit of a band on loosing it on the edge.

‘Killer McHann,’ Live in New Jersey 1993.

What’s entertaining about a song of this caliber is that David Yow writes lyrics that reads like a cross between English limerick and prose work from Edgar Allan Poe, that is if Poe had been a fan of John Ford films.

These songs give you an emotional road map as to why this band was often seen as “violent and vulgar” during their live performances (http://bitemefanboy.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/notoriously-reckless-occasionally-violent-the-jesus-lizard/), as well as proving their potential in the independent music world that later led to a full-on live release (Show) and eventually the signing on Capitol with a spot on Lollapalooza in the mid-’90s, many say the downfall to the true potential of this band.

Lash may be a quick listen, but it packs a punch, and if you really want to know what made the band in their prime so great, then it is worth digging up this EP.

Cross-Reference: Butthole Surfers, Big Black, and Melvins