Course Of Empire
TELEPATHIC LAST WORDS
TVT


Wouldn't it be great to be a band like Course
Of Empire, who put out an album only every four
years, toured nationally just a handful of times,
never got on the radio but for a single big-band
novelty remix of their "Infested" single and people
still knew your name? Nevermind the post-industrial
innovation this band has shown over its past two
albums, stellar live performances and a pair of
dueling drummers to give Gene Krupa a run for his
money. There's still something decidedly weird about
the loyalty of Course Of Empire fans.

TELEPATHIC LAST WORDS may be a little toned-down from
'94's INITIATION, despite the production help from John
Fryer (Nine Inch Nails). Guitarist Mike Graff's Killing
Joke-styled wall of noise has thinned, and the rhythms 
are less complex, though groovier perhaps, with odd 
assorted dance beats rising among hard-stepping refrains.
The rolling undercurrents of the two-drummer effect is
the sustained centerpiece of the band, for sure. But for
once, you can also really hear singer Vaughn Stevenson's
lyrics rising in rich tenor over the dominance of the 
rhythm section and feedback. No more hiding behind the
microphone. He's a gifted lyricist with a great voice -- 
the kind of singer you want to hear.

"Persian Song" somewhat steals the show, no doubt a single
with doors of perception musings and frantic repetition of
lyrics like, I try to separate the real from the unreal/There
and together, into nothing/ Something's coming. It's up and
jumpy, with urgency lurking behind.

And so, too, there is a continuing theme of forward-looking
to the album. We're doomed, but the show must go on, carries
"Houdini's Blind," and just bringing back a tweaked and 
digitized rendition of "Coming Of The Century" from their 
first album is interesting.

Now eight years since it was first penned, Stevenson's 
sarcastic delivery gets across the song's increased 
relevancy without really having to say it. Yeah, we all 
know, the clock's about to click over. Eerie, huh?

Still, Course Of Empire have always seemed to share two
identities. There was their more sophisticated album 
persona, with hidden tracks, hidden meanings and songs 
about devolution. Then there was the more playful side 
you'd see on stage, covering Adam Ant songs. This time 
you get a little of both. Like when the band gets a hold 
of Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon," it's almost sacrilegious. 
But they are Texas boys, after all, and even with a 
psychedelic twinge, you can still smell the dust off 
the cattle trail on this one.

Yet it's the very metropolitan clubs of Dallas' Deep Ellum
historic entertainment district where many of these songs
debuted. Imagine the inferno of a packed house in July, 
and the throb of the final crescendo of the fourth-quarter 
track "Respect," with its lengthy drone-out as drummers 
Chad Lovell and Michael Jerome step up when the melody 
recedes, holding the tempo like there was really only 
one mind behind it. Breathtaking.

If there's one thing to underscore, see this band play 
live. It'll get you remembering that name for sure.