Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel – Nail

There are a couple painful things about being a Foetus fan; there’s the fact that you have to introduce Mr. Thirlwell as “the guy who writes the Venture Bros. music,” as that is literally all he might be known from. Another hard part is that his first two albums Deaf and Ache are…unique. They are not bad records at all, they just take a couple listens before it finally kicks in. The most important thing is how pretentious you might look for listening to this guy; he’s about as underground as they get. Granted, there’s a better chance of meeting a fellow Foetus fan than a Distorted Pony fan but the trouble is still there. Why do I mention the threat of looking pretentious?

Because Nail is a perfect album and every minute of it is absolute genius. That’s why. I do not make a statement like that lightly, and this is no light album. As a matter of fact, Nail is a shockingly macabre album, but always feels self-aware and holds its composure in order to avoid becoming “goth,” “post-punk,” or any terms to mark it into one category. Nail is whatever it wants to be from start to finish, and what a compelling trip it is!

Nail comes to us from J.G Thirlwell, an Australian musician and prime candidate for the “Most Competent Human Being” award. From Deaf to Thaw, Thirlwell did all the music on every one of his albums, no exceptions. It wasn’t until 1995’s Gash that he would start having guest musicians, but even then they were confined to about 4 songs before I assume Thirlwell kicked them out so he could record more pots and pans being thrown in conjunction with string orchestras. He also does his own artwork, and observing the creativity displayed on these covers, while also listening to the monstrously layered tunes, it is easy to assume that Thirlwell is a time traveller who went back to the 80s with Photoshop and FL Studio. I still have not thrown that theory out.

Absolutely spellbinding and brilliant album packed full of songs that would be “standout tracks” on any lesser album. Each song is memorable and unique, no two tracks sound at all alike, and Thirlwell’s lyrics are always humorous and brilliant while his  wonderful vocal delivery helps bring them into a new territory altogether. An absolute must listen.

Ripped from the time travelling hero’s CD release to empty pots and pans of FLAC

Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel; Nail

1.       Theme From Pigdom Come

2.       The Throne Of Agony

3.       ! / Pigswill

4.       Descent Into The Inferno

5.       Enter The Exterminator

6.       Di-1-9026

7.       The Overture Of Pigdom Come

8.       Private War / Anything (Viva!)

9.       Anything (Viva!) (Continued)