The God Machine
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Reviews
- the god machine / 09.11.91. oxford - jericho tavern - melody maker (john harris)
- the god machine / 12.11.91. london - borderline, ??? (keith cameron)
- the god machine / turn ons, new musical express (nme), 30th november 1991
- the god machine / turn ons, new musical express (nme), 14th december 1991
- the god machine / 20.05.92. windsor - old trout - melody maker (cathi unsworth)
- the god machine / home - melody maker, 18th january 1993 (cathi unsworth)
- the god machine / 22.02.93. oxford - jericho tavern, ??? (???)
- the god machine / 23.03.93. köln - luxor - 250 zuschauer - visions (torsten stein)
- the god machine / 16.07.93. long beach (california) - bogart's (arik vance)
- the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - vox, july, august 1994 ??? (leo finlay)
- the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - night and deity - melody maker, 17th september 1994 (cathy unsworth)
- the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - select, october 1994 (andrew perry)
- the god machine / scenes from the second storey - metal hammer, july 2004
(every dutch article was translated into an approximative english version. thanks to cardhu who gave me the tip: http://babelfish.altavista.com) help !!!
- the god machine / 09.11.91. oxford - jericho tavern - melody maker
GOD MACHINE
Jericho Tavern, Oxford
It’s so great a name isn’t it? The sort of moniker that implies out of body experiences and encounters with the great white light, evoking images of desperately earnest young men who view the mere entertainment of their public as a positive failure. Unfortunately, God Machine won’t take anyone tripping tonight. The band’s entrance is horribly low key and an uncomfortably empty dance floor separates them from the audience. They look awkward, embarrassed – frequently just lost.
But heads soon start nodding in acknowledgement of their hypnotic appeal. God Machine play feedback- ridden, menacing songs that bounce out of brooding silence into crazed dementia – fractured, fragile stuff with psychedelic overtones that recall Loop at their meandering mesmerising best.
Thrown into this weird West Coast grunge (God Machine hail from California), is the undirected teenage rage usually found in the USA’s noisy musical fringes. Lines like “I don’t give a fuck about how you feel/ I feel betrayed” are shrieked with heart stopping conviction, betraying a cathartic aspect of God Machine’s public paroxysms that makes for an often unnervingly agitated performance.
From such peaks of emotion, however, God Machine often plunge into the realm of muso tedium, staring at their guitars and trying to convince us that amorphous improvisation is every bit as thrilling as angry, explosive abandon. It isn’t- and their occasional willingness to plumb the depths of krypto prog-rock is one of their few noticeable faults.
They redeem themselves with a closing piece entitled “Fuck” (“a love song”, apparently). Screeching and screaming until an exit is the only possible option. The crowd clap politely, and God Machine fall from the stage, all too aware that the atmosphere they needed was missing, and heaven remained out of their grasp. For the moment.
- john harris
- the god machine / 12.11.91. london - borderline, ???
DEUS MEX MACHINA
Theoretically, it shouldn’t matter that this venue feels completely inappropriate for all but the most superficial musical exploits, yet with music as tantallsingly subjective as The God Machine's, feeling is all. And on this particular occasion, your correspondent felt mainly unease at the woeful juxtaposition of this venue and that band.
The Borderline, for those as yet blissful ignorant, is a fake Mexican cantina and bastion of the London music biz chattering classes. The God Machine are so genuine and free of artifice, it's almost incredible they exist at a time when record companies are trampling one another in the rush to buy their latest prodigies into the charts. Separately, each serves its respective constituency well enough, but mix the two and the results are dispiriting. Even in Position A - within gasping distance of bassist Jimmy’s out-thrust left peg - it’s obvious The God Machine are not of this world, and thus their dank drapes seemed just too incongruous for much of this evening.
Why all this matters so much is down to the molten wellspring of emotion that impels Robin, Jimmy and Austin along a route of which they themselves are only dimly aware. It matters because The God Machine bloody well matter, too. Detractors might sniff at the lyrics’ lurid introspection and mutter dark oaths along the lines of “Goth reconstructivists”, but the key to being able to pull off such ominous Big Statements as ‘The Blind Man’ lies in the trio’s complete lack of self-importance. The God Machine are serious, sure, but never silly. At the core of this sticky, unashamedly dramatic rock muse there is none of Goth’s didactic posturing, rather a shared bewilderment, a sort of unity in bleakdom. And hey, right after ‘Desert Song’ had some folk choking on the Sol soaked limes, Robin definitely cracked a smile!
“We’ve got five minutes left and 45 minutes still to play”, the GM’s cheeky mouthpiece announces, and it’s with some relief that the crowd welcomes ‘Home’, The God Machine’s most linear and cathartic rock blast. That it atones for the certain lack of tension of proceedings thus far forces one to recall their Swans support set a fortnight earlier, when, lost in the cavernous gloom of the Town & Country Club, The God Machine had indeed resembled the bearers of some scary extra-terrestrial warning; it had felt real. Tonight, though, these were but three imaginary boys, lost somewhere out on the borderline.
- keith cameron
-
the god machine / turn ons, new musical express (nme), 30th november 1991
01 SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT - nirvana (geffen)
02 JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT - klf (klf communications)
03 WOW - captain america (paperhouse)
04 PURITY (EP) - god machine (eve)
05 REPRISE (EP) - moose (hut)
06 I WANT THE MOON - leatherface (roughneck)
07 SOUND - james (fontana)
08 GALWAY AND LOS ANGELES - toasted heretic (liquid)
09 ACHTUNG BABY (LP) - u2 (island)
10 REVOLUTION NO 9 (LP) - various (pax)
... what's going on the NME stereo...
-
the god machine / turn ons, new musical express (nme), 14th december 1991
01 PURITY (EP) - god machine (eve)
02 LOVE SEE NO COLOUR - the farm (produce)
03 ROOBARD & CUSTARD - shaft (london)
04 SO LONG HARMLESS - the cherrys (demo)
05 KENNEL - shed 7 (demo)
06 HONEY LOVING HONEY - sweet jesus (rough trade)
07 BEAR UP BISON - shonen knife (seminal)
08 TURN IT OVER - various (mango)
09 WOW - captain america (paperhouse)
10 JESUS CHRIST - family cat (clawfist)
... what's going on the NME stereo...
- the god machine / 20.05.92. windsor - old trout - melody maker
THE GOD MACHINE / THE HAIR & SKIN TRADING COMPANY / PAPA SPRAIN - Old Trout, Windsor
Good gigs hang by a thread of sanity. Better ones lose it completely.
When The God Machine leave the stage tonight, after only four numbers, it's
not just them that feel mindf***ed.
The evening starts with a collosal cosmic kickstart courtesy of Papa Sprain,
who, in the pretty surrounds of Windsor, seem like they've beamed down from
another planet. The opening numbers, mind-aching space juggernauts, give the
effect of being trapped inside a supernova (as seen on "Star Trek II").
Their vast fringes almost sweeping the stage, the Sprain begin to resemble the
spectacle that was those crap cosmonauts Spacemen 3. Thank God there are people
who know how to sustain extreme chaotic noise disorder.
They, of course, are The Hair & Skin Trading Company, who drop into the
shuddering reverb of "Ground Zero" like an A-bomb on an old folks
home. It's reassuring that they're such affable chaps in real life ; on stage,
they take on the demeanour of psychopaths. Particularly when singing "Some
people deserve to die," with the hypnotic accompaniment of the tribal drumstrokes
resounding against Nigel's slipstream-to-oblivion guitar. "Final Nail"
is the damage done, spiral echoes of nightmare that are as captivating and crushing
as a pythons' embrace.
Already, the temples are throbbing. But nothing could have prepared for The
God Machine's arrival. Apparently, earlier on today, this gig was advertised
on the radio as a Bob headline. Understandably, Robyn is a bit pissed off by
this.
"Hi, we're Bob, we've got 15 minutes to play our set," he wisecracks,
strapping on his guitar. "Dream Machine" cracks open the atmosphere,
the sweetest ache of emotions. It sends bassist Jimmy reeling, while Robin is
wired up, smashing his strings with such force he inevitably breaks them. Tossing
his guitar aside, he clutches his beer to his heart and bleeds out the words
regardless, while a replacement axe is found.
Perversely, someone in the crowd is calling out "Winnie The Pooh!"
Robyn looks perplexed, dazed. "I'll give you a Winnie The Pooh song,"
he responds, and we're pulled into "Prostitute" and its forces of
rage and beauty with an intensity that dazzles. It is impossible to watch the
Machine without being utterly moved, such is the transmission of feeling between
audience and band. So when, after a ravishing "Ego", when Robyn announces
they're doing "She Said" the hairs don't just stand up on your neck,
they twine themselves into knots.
Tonight, this wounding diatribe is more desperate and savage than ever. "I
gave her flowers," rages Robyn, "and she said don't be so romantic".
And almost as soon as it starts, there's more strings broken on the singer's
guitar. This time he smashes the damn thing, throw it over his head and exits.
Jimmy and Austin look back at his departing back warily, but continue nonetheless.
He's swaying when he returns, grasping at the mike, screaming "I don't
wanna be your f***in' secret" over and over again. Until you are utterly
bombed, and they can play no more.
And just as you clutch your beer for support, Robyn comes back alone. "Some
more Winnie The Pooh," he explains. The room is silent. "Coleston,
coleston, coleston pie - a fly cannot bird but a bird can fly".
The God Machine have made nonsense out of sense, with scant regard for anyone
else's mental health. The experience is awesome.
- cathi unsworth
- the god machine / home - melody maker, ??? 18th january 1993
Single of the week: THE GOD MACHINE "Home" (Fiction)
So this is how 1993 begins: a flash of white lightning cracking open a thunderous sky, a fire from heaven burning down to earth, the end of the world and the new God Machine EP. "Home" first appeared on their 1991 debut EP, "Purity", at the time the only record they thought they would be able to make. Then it was stunning. Now, shot through with mystical Eastern chanting that recalls the opening prophecy of doom from "The Exorcist", the word "awesome" is hardly enough. Elsewhere, they torch Bauhaus' "Double Dare", turning its posturing into sulphurous savagery. But what you should really possess is the seven-inch, where they administer the most astonishing version of The KLF's "What Time Is Love" that you'll ever hear.
- cathi unsworth
- the god machine / scenes from the second storey - oor magazine, issue 3, february 1993
amper vier weken 1993 in en nu al een plat die mag meedingen naar de titel debuutplaat van het jaar. maakte the god machine afgelopen zomer tijdens hun voorprogramma bij the cramps nog voornamelijk indruk door het volume waarmee het een en ander gepaard ging in paradiso, "scenes from the second storey" is een vingeroefening in desolaatheid. vanaf de opener "dream machine" tot het serene sluitstuk the piano song is duidelijk dat een velzijdige band aan het werk is die beschikt over alle kleurschakeringen tussen licht en donker. het ene moment wordt met snoeiharde monotone metalriffs op de luisteraar ingebeukt, het volgende is er sprake van eensereen akoestiscch rustpuntje of een psychedelisch tapijtje. als geheel weerhoudt dat de plaat ervan bombastisch en ongeloofwaardig te worden. lijnen lopen naar jane's addiction en killing joke en, in het verstilde "it's all over", naar the cure ten tijde van faith, terwijl in "seven" zelfs een klarinet opduikt. the god machine deinst er echter niet voor terug de contrasten in het muzikale spectrum nauw en abrupt tegenover elkaar te zetten. het resultaat is perfect in balans tusssen hard en zacht en tussen hoop en wanhoop. niet laten liggen.
- pieter van adrichem
approximative english translation
scarcely celebrate weeks 1993 in and now already a plat which can compete to the title debuutplaat of the year made the god machine last summer during their voorprogramma at the cramps still mainly impression by the volume with which it and an other one went accompanied in paradiso, "scenes from the second storey" a finger exercise in desolaatheid. as from the opener "dream machine" to the serene sluitstuk "the piano song" are clear that velzijdige a link to the work has been had that all kleurschakeringen between slightly and dark the one moment becomes with snoeiharde monotonous metalriffs on the auditor ingebeukt, the following is there talk of eensereen akoestiscch rustpuntje or psyhedelic you as a whole hold back that the plate bombastic and incredible to become lines overlopen to jane's addiction and killing joke and, "it's all over", to the cure at the time of faith, grown still in, whereas in "seven" even a manifold does not emerge. the god machine shies away from however the contrasts in the musical spectrum closely and abruptly compared with each other to put the result is perfectly in assessment tusssen rapidly and gentle and between hope and despair do not let lie.
- pieter van adrichem
- the god machine / 22.02.93. oxford - jericho tavern, ???
they played with headcleaner (a "motorhead meets big black and head of david" kinda thing...).
... if headcleaner are an ugly beast then the god machine are a thing of utter beauty. they have chosen their name well. they could never have been called something like the gerbils. they had to have the biggest name in the world to match the biggest sound in the world. god matches their omnipotence: the way their music surrounds you, engulfs you, fills every crevice in the room and every part of your head. all powerful and all consuming. and like a machine they are a smooth, mechanical, menacing thing, ever advancing, unstoppable like one of those hunter-killer android tanks out of terminator's nightmare future world. on stage they sway gently, offering little evidence of the turmoil that exists within the music. any reference point is perfunctory. the only comparison that isn't entirely valueless is spacemen 3 who once trod a similar path between ultimate guitar noise and tranquil, almost silent, peace. the god machine are not indie, nor are they metal, they're not even grunge or anything in between. they are something above all and far more important. "scenes from the second storey" is the most essential albums of the '90s so far. at 80 minutes long it just about does the band justice but you have to listen to it at a volume even your most tolerant neighbours five doors down won't tolerate to appreciate it's full effect. "home" is the most powerful song of the last ten years while "blind man" is probably the most beautiful. in between the god machine turn all before them into so much dust. godlike.
- ???
-
the god machine / 23.03.93. köln - luxor - 250 zuschauer - visions
die zeichen standen gut an diesem abend, denn nach einigen völlig ausverkauften
konzerten im luxor wie zuletzt r.a.t.m., sollte sich der laden nur gut zur hälfte
füllen. ideale voraussetzungen also, um die hier so obligatorisch gewordenen,
klaustrophobischen verhältnisse auszuschließen, und seinen bewegungsdrang
ungestört ausleben zu können. ohne ablenkenden support-act fiel kurz
vor 22 uhr der startschuß in form eines zumindest verminütigen, psykotisch
wirkenden intros. gutturale sprechgesänge, die durch ihre gebethafte eintönigkeit
bereits beschwörenden charakter hatten, bereiten effektiv auf die eigentlichen
songs vor, die ja ebenfalls hochgradig von den ihnen innewohnenden monotonie.
leben. bereits im anschlagen der erste töne von "dream machine"
zogen die drei göttlichen maschinisten die anwesenden in ihren bann und
spalteten diese in zwei lager. die einen nutzen die tanzfläche vor der
bühne zu ihrem eigentlichen zweck, während die mehrzahl einfach nur
ergriffen das geschehen verfolgte. das trio wußte die spannung des "scenes
from the second storey" - albums 'live' noch gehörig zu verdichten.
ohne jemals den roten faden auch nur ansatzweise zu verlieren, spielte man sich,
oft fließend ineinander übergehend, durch das annähernd komplete
material. äußerlich eher unscheinbar, vermochte sänger / gitarrist
robin proper-sheppard stimmlich stark zu beeindrucken eund erzeugte allein mit
stimmbändern und mikrofon töne, die man beim bloßen hören
der cd durchaus instrumenten hätte zuordnen können. durch den minimalismus
ihrer bühnenpräsentation, die nur von wenigen, zumeist roten spots
beleuchtet wurde, sowie das absolut tighte zusammenspiel der musiker steigerte
sich die atmosphärische eindringlichkeit von stück zu stück.
die darbietung trieb immer mehr auf einen durchaus gewollten, melancholischen
tiefpunkt zu, was dem publikum auf emotionaler ebene einiges abverlangte. nur
ganz wenige vermögen, kollektive stimmungen so bewußt und gezielt
zu steuern wie god machin, und das war es auch, was diesen abend zum absoluten
event avancieren ließ. schön zu erleben, daß selbst eine hohe
erwartungshaltung noch übertroffen werden kann...
- torsten stein
- the god machine / 16.07.93. long beach (california) - bogart's
Cop Shoot Cop headlined.
There's an interesting story behind this. When I got to the club, I ran into an old friend of mine who, as it turned out, was working as a label representative for Polygram, and he invited me to his table to sit down with three other people. He bought me a drink and asked me who I was there to see. I told him that I had come straight from my work, and I just wanted to see the God Machine and leave before Cop Shoot Cop came on. Suddenly, everyone at the table looked at me. Frank (my friend who worked for Polygram) stopped for a few seconds and said, "You're here to see the God Machine ????" I nodded. He then pointed toward the two people sitting at the other end of the table and mouthed the words "GOD MACHINE!!!" I looked over, and a man with a huge smile on his face extended his hand and said "Hi, I'm Robin!!" It was Robin, Ron, and their soundman (I think his name was David...). We all talked for about ten minutes about various things, where they were from, where they've been and what not. Robin told me that I'd probably want to come to the show the following night ; since his throat was really sore and his voice wasn't that strong, he said that the band wasn't going to do a long set. I jokingly responded, "Well, that's all right. As long as you guys do 'Seven'". Robin paused for a few seconds, said, "I think we could do that one," and looked over at Ron. Ron was a little hesitant at first (his initial reaction was something like "But that's our whole SET!!!"), but they agreed to do it.
The club was EMPTY when they started their set ; I counted twenty-five people in the whole place, including employees and band members. People started arriving about three-quarters of the way through "Dream Machine", which went into "She Said". After "The Blind Man", Robin apologized for his voice and thanked all thirty of us for showing up, sarcastically cautioning us against slam-dancing too hard. By the time they started "Seven", the dance floor was about half-full; once they got to the drone breakdown after the Chorus 2 part of the song (near the 7:00 mark on the album), the dance floor was full, and EVERYONE in the room had their eyes fixed on the band, awestruck. They extended the outtro for an additional four minutes or so, with Robin on his knees tiwddling knobs on his many effects pedals (I swear I counted something like fifteen of them!), slowly fading the song out, ending it with a sound wash fairly reminiscent of "Expressway To Your Skull" by Sonic Youth. Amazing, amazing stuff. The show only lasted for roughly 45 minutes, but it still rings in my ears as one of the best gigs I've ever been to in my life. I really had never seen a band unknown to most of the people in the club they were playing at just command everyone's attention like that. In a word, awesome!
- aric vance
-
the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - vox, july, august
1994 ???
given the shock death of bassist jimmy fernandez from a brain tumour in may,
one last laugh in a place of dying... is the band's unplanned epitaph. perhaps
fittingly, it's an unremittingly morose work.
musically, things start brightly enough with the relentless pummel of "the
tremolo song" and the show-stopping jane's addiction-like "mama",
but "alone" drops the pace to a near-standstill, and from there on
in any question of easy listening goes out the window. "in bad dreams"
and "painless" are relentlessly grim, the latter pounding home the
far-from-uplifting sentiment: "you said life could be painless, that's
not what i found."
true, they combine the epic introspection of early cure with the pile-driving
power of grunge, and one last laugh... is a fitting testament to fernandez.
but while fans will appreciate it, newcomers are likely to stay well clear.
7/10
- leo finlay
-
the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - night and deity -
melody maker, 17th september 1994
some things were never meant to be. after years of struggle against the vicissitudes
of life in london and the tragic death of their bass player, the god machine
have decided to call it a day. cathy unsworth pays her last respect.
it's hard to express feelings of loss in the printed word, still harder to pay
adequate tribute to absent friends. as the title of the album suggests, "one
last laugh in a place of dying..." is a more powerful testament to jimmy
fernandez, the bassist who died in may this year at the tragically early age
of 28, than any words could say.
in the space of two albums and four ep's, the god machine reached higher, felt
deeper and created more intense, eternal visions with their music than any of
their contemporaries would ever have dared. this album is their peak, a thing
of terrible, harrowing beauty that dips deep into the terrifying pandora's box
of the human psyche to grapple with the raw nerve endings of existence. it brings
back from the darkness in one, long howl of rage, pain and understanding the
flaming torches of redemption, with a music that spans the worlds of the living
and the dead. it surpasses soundgarden's "superunknown", smashing
pumpkins' "siamese dream", even the back catalogue of jane's addiction,
to whom they were initially compared.
"one last laugh in a place of dying..." was recorded in prague, and
not for nothing does "the unbearable lightness of being" spring to
mind. in the shadowlands of europe tgm found the perfect surroundings for their
haunted dreams, a place where secrets linger around dusty old architecture and
winding streets, a place that has known the awful extremities of human evil:
"cut yourself so i can see the bleeding", is the opening line. "the
tremelo song" makes a sound like chandeliers falling, as robin proper-sheppard,
jimmy fernandez and ron austin turn guitar, bass and drums into one gilded eternity.
you can sense the urgency and frantic release sought through the hypnotic "alone",
where the guitars burn with absolute power, and the tense, lingering spaces
in between, where piano and strings soothe and tear in equal measure. and all
time robin's voice slices through you, evoking an alienation and loss you would
wish never to feel: "you said life could be painless" he accuses on
"painless" - "i'm sorry but that's not what i've found."
and so the god machine move onwards through the rooms of your mind, unlocking
doors where secrets fly around like ghosts. "the devil song" looks
over its shoulders at a fork tailed shadow moving ever closer, the clamouring
of voices at its climax coming from an old, two-reel tape recorder robin found
in a junk shop in prague.
"the hunter" is a thing of sensual, aching beauty, a waltz with that
devil in an old, forgotten ballroom, while "evol" is the scariest
evocation i've heard since killing joke's "revelations" frightened
the life out of my 13-year-old brain. "boy by the roadside" is too
painful to actually put into words, but the album drifts off to a beautiful
piano elegy, "the sunday song", which sounds like the refrain from
a ghostly carnival.
three years ago, on a rainy night in king's cross, the god machine told me that
the "purity ep" was recorded as if it was going to be their last record.
their futures were so unsure at the time that they had to put everything into
the one moment they had. "it's better to die on your feet than live on
your knees", they said.
thank you.
- cathy unsworth (transcribed by christophe demunter - 1995)
- the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - oor magazine, issue 20, october 1994
vlak na het afronden van de opnames voor "one last laugh in a place of dying" overleed in mei god machine-bassist jimmy fernandez. aangezien de twee overgebleven leden de groep niet zo langer wensen voort te zetten, fungeert deze cd als zwanezang. jammer want one last laugh... laat nou net horen dat the god machine de audiostormen waar het debuut "scenes from the second storey" vol mee staat ook in beduidend genuanceerder banen weet te leiden. maar in de belevingswereld van zanger robin proper-sheppard wordt de toon nog immer door pijn, verlangen en eenzaamheid gezet. "you said that life could be painless/well that's not what i found" heet het in "painless". en zo gaat de god machine door: verwijfeld en kwetsbaar in "alone", wild om zich heen meppend in "mama" en lang uitgesponnen - maar desondanks heel spannend - in "the sunday song". immer lange nummers waarvan de titels zelden in de teksten voorkomen. verschil is echter dat door een veel verder doorgevoerde openheid plus het inzetten van een aantal strijkinstrumenten een en ander veel gevarieerder en krachtiger overkomt. en dat levert muziek op die een louterende maar op den duur minstens zo zalvende werking heeft. zware kost, maar daarom niet minder smakelijk.
- pieter van adrichem
approximative english translation
shortly after winding up the prerecordings for "one last laugh in a place of dying" jimmy fernandez. since the two remained members do not wish continue the group this way longer, died act this cd as zwanezang. in May god machine-bassist jammer because one last laugh let hear... nou net that the god machine one where the debut "scenes from the second storey" full endures also in significant more balanced job weet to lead but in the experience of singer robin proper-sheppard the tone still always pain, desire and loneliness are put. "you said that life could be painless/well that's not what i found" is called it in "painless". and this way the god machine goes by: verwijfeld and vulnerably in "alone", wildly for itself gone smacking in "mama" and long spun out - but nevertheless complete stretching - in "the sunday song". always long numbers of which the titles seldom prevent in the texts difference are however that by much further carried out openness plus using a number of strijkinstrumenten and an other one much happen more varied and more strongly. and that provides music on that a purifying but in the long run at least this way putting ointment on functioning has heavy costs, but for this reason not less tastily.
- pieter van adrichem
-
the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - select, october 1994
"you said life could be painless" howls robin proper-sheppard over
and over again. "well, i'm sorry, but that's not what i've found."
like many other lyrics on this second god machine album, it's easy to read poignancy
into them since band's bassist, jimmy fernandez, died suddenly of a brain tumour
in may. though completed well beforehand, "one last laugh in a place of
dying..." is even harder to get your head round than last year's debut,
from that viciously ironic title downwards. most people will still be baffled
as to why these three healthy-looking californians moved to london, got themselves
signed to the cure's label and made music of such morbid, often oppressive intensity.
west coast goth. unlike the taut-torsoed rage of hardcore, say, gm's reaction
to america's bland, empty happiness was to withdraw, to reach within and, from
the depths of their darkest emotions, to create a truly beautiful landscape
of their own imagining. musically they pulled it off by tapping into the power
of mantric, loopesque riffage ("mama", "evol", etc), or
else crushingly-sparse balladry ("in bad dreams", "boy by the
roadside"). their sound also looked towards a kind of arabic mysticism,
echoed in lines like "i want to go where the sun goes" ("the
train song"). these songs were all written during a few months that the
trio spent at a musicians' commune in prague, and the exhilaration of at least
partially fulfilling that eastern quest crackles through every moment of the
lp's widescreen 70-minutes odyssey. the journey won't be going any further,
tragically, but this is a mighty final achievement.
- andrew perry (transcribed by christophe demunter - 1995)
- the god machine / scenes from the second storey - metal hammer, july 2004
(thanks to wouter berteloot)
- the god machine / one last laugh in a place of dying... - word magazine, 18th may 2005
The God Machine had already proved on their debut, Scenes From The Second Storey, that they were a HEAVY rock band doing something different in the early 90's (Mogwai, Aereogramme and Liberty 37 have declared the band's influence) but they improved their uniqueness with the follow-up. One Last Laugh In A Place Of Dying... was stripped of the eastern sounds of its predecessor. Out too went almost all the intriguing samples (Le Mystere De Voix Bulgares had featured on their biggest hit Home), but the strings and piano remained to embellish some songs (most notably the long, hypnotic The Hunter Song) by this trio of guitar, bass and drums. Listen to In Bad Dreams, Alone and the simple but heart-soaringly epic The Flower Song. None of their contemporaries - Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool and Jane's Addiction (an oft-cited point of reference) sounded as dynamic, intimate, pummelling yet beautiful as The God Machine. A huge sound. They were on the cusp of greatness - I'm certain this album would have put them in the big league if they'd got to tour it. Sadly, bassist Jimmy Fernandez died of a brain tumour shortly after recording was completed. The loss hit his bandmates - and close friends - Robin Proper-Sheppard (now in Sophia) and Ron Austin very hard. Jimmy was irreplaceable, and so the rock world lost a truly special band. One Last Laugh... proved a fitting epitaph for Jimmy.
- julian pemberton