Lustre King
Shoot the Messenger
Southern Records
Release Date: 1999
When I saw Lustre King play a few years back, the first words out of my mouth were, "Who the hell do these prancing pretty boys think the are?" Guitarist Mike Lust spent more time blowing kisses to the audience than riffing it up. Bandmates Jay Dandurand and Craig Ackerman sported a smug smirk through the entire set. To tell you the truth, I could have cared less what they were playing because I wrote them off in a heartbeat.
Later a friend let me borrow Lustre King's first EP, The Money Shot. It took me a while to get around to listening to it, but when I finally put it in my CD player I was really impressed. Each song jumped wildly with spastic guitar/bass interplay, as the drums kept the fracas in line, like a tough mom and her two snot-nosed kids. Musically, Lustre King brought to mind the caustic side of Jaks with song arrangements similar to Shorty. Who would have thought that behind all the glamour and sass, these guys could really play?
Shoot the Messenger, the band's first full length, has fully converted me. The album's thirteen songs vary quite a bit in comparison to their earlier work, jumping from groovey instrumentals that would be at home on a Blues Explosion record to hard-nosed math rock pile ups. Somehow it works.
Lustre King keeps you on your toes from the beginning, featuring DJ Alejan's turntable stylings on the first track, "Psychoanylsis in ACTION." Later, the 90 Day Men's Brian Case makes a vocal cameo to spice up "Got Your Anesthetic," as does Joan of Arc crooner Tim Kinsella on "Self-preservation Without a Map." Through it all, Mike Lust's heavy handing mixing is lively and impressive. Although his style owes an obvious nod to Jon Spencer and Calvin Johnson (Dub Narcotic Sound System, Halo Benders), Lust manages to avoid sounding terribly clicheed by mixing in some less common influences. For example, both "Calling Dr. Baby" and "Imaginary People Show Up All the time" explore the deep reverb sounds typical of trip hop.
What truly holds this record together is Lustre King's solid playing. Whether it's rockers ("Get in the Riv," "Flame Job") or melodic instrumentals ("Asia Minor," "Christmas in My Pussy"), the band plays with conviction and power.
In the end, we must return to the pouty lips factor. Ever since Ian Svenonious of Nation of Ulysses was crowned "Sassiest Boy of the Year" by Sassy magazine years ago, the whole shtick has become a bit old. Lustre King fit squarely alongside the likes fellow sassters the Delta 72, Make Up, and Blues Explosion. I managed to get over their image, and I suppose most listeners will too if they can pay closer attention the songs than the style. Lustre King has more to offer than the free kisses at their shows.
-- Matt Ryan
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