Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!–Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
There are only a handful of artists who have long careers and who remain badasses throughout. Forget about the David Bowie’s and Mick Jagger’s whose badassery stems from inventing and embodying an archetupe. I mean those whose artistic longevity reflects a deep and ever furthering artistic sensibility that remains new and authentic album after album. Think Tom Waits. Think Bob Dylan. Think, yes, Nick Cave.
I’ve never been a serious bolo tie wearing Cave fan, but it might happen yet…despite the fact that the dude first started making music the year I was born. His new album, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! exudes the spit in your face vitality that rock music should be about, all the while being an impressively literary album in the vein of Dylan and the beats. There are still the tried and true ballads and noirish escapades, with organ and keys under Cave’s fingers, but there are also VU style rockers and genuine pop songs. “Albert Goes West” is one of the latter, and I’ve included it here. My favorite track, though, is probably “More News from Nowhere” which feels like Cave’s new themesong. It spans eight excellent minutes, but like other great long riffs (I’m thinking Elvis Costello’s “Tokyo Storm Warning” for some reason) I’d be happy if it were twice as long.
I suspect Dig!!! might not hit old fans as solidly as it did me, but at the moment, it’s probably my favorite album of the year.