33 rebellions per minute
1995
Showbusiness Giants, LET'S HAVE A TALK WITH THE DEAD
"For optimum enjoyment, the listener should gaze fixedly at a yantra or checkerboard for [the album's]
duration. The listener is reminded that this record album is essentially a coded journal of the thoughts and
emotions of a non-coporeal intelligence, possibly of a higher order than our own, and may contain clues".
Or may not, given that these liner notes refer to such songs as "I've Got Gingivitis", "Primate Boogie", and
"I Am The Lickspittle Of The Animal Kingdom", which respectively are mediocre punk, pretty good
boogie-woogie, and charming singalong with accordian. Which is one way of pointing out that the
Showbusiness Giants, a side project of Canadian punk-rockers from D.O.A. and Nomeansno, load their
album with 18 tracks of identity crisis. Bravo!--- in a world where Celine Dion and Hootie's Blowfish
know _exactly_ who they are, I'm always happy to see a band that can load spy-guitar theme and
kiddie-show pop into "the Other Side Of Mr. Sulu" (a highlight) and sandwich it between the airy folk-pop
of "Big In Real Estate" (another highlight) and the live 8-minute poetry rant "Wake Up And Roar, Bachelor
God", also finding time for some excellent hardcore punk in "Mothra Has Taken Tokyo" and "Soundcheck"
(which, stealing a joke from the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, pauses in mid-song for exactly that, also
introducing all the band members including Igor Stravinsky). They even show true talent for soulful
doo-wop in "She Called My Pete", a heartbreak classic of the My Girlfriend The World-Class Skydiver Is
Cheating On Me genre. Once upon a time, this stuff might've fought "Monster Mash" and "Purple People
Eater" for #1 on Billboard. Now it's a pissing-away of talent. Which is an unbeatable way of making talent
visible. Whoo-hoo!
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