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keeper avg .333
I will admit that my impressions of this album were formed when I saw these songs performed on Austin City Limits. In that context "Jublilee Street"**** was the obvious highlight of the show. While not as gloriously unhinged as that live version, the cathartic coda of this studio version still makes my favorite case for rock music with a string section. The wistful "Mermaids"**** doesn't hold a candle to that kind of grandeur, but it has some great lines:
I believe in God
I believe in mermaids too
I believe in seventy two virgins on a chain (why not, why not)
Most of the album is more subtle, relying on simple instrumental elements, such as the mechanical guitar lines of "Wide Lovely Eyes", or the evocative combination of the galloping bass growl vs. strings in "Water's Edge" and "We Real Cool"; though a bit one-dimensional they sound great. "Higgs Boson Blues" is tastefully sinister, heavily borrowing the mood of Neil Young's "On The Beach". The only clunkers here are the lightweight, nocturnal opener "We No Who U R" and the similar "Finishing Jubliee Street", an unnecessary song about the song 3 tracks ago. The album's other crowning glory is the somber closing title song****, just Cave backed with spectral keyboard.
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