Review: Your Majesty, Jive Shucker [Double Deuce Records]

Fall 1994
by Sean G. Thomas

Sequenced at D.C.'s own WGNS Studios, Jive Shucker begins with "pH" (subtle acid reference, anyone?), which starts like Joy Division, ends like the Pixies, and somewhere in the middle sets the tone for this fine, darkish disk.

Despite the lo-fi production values, there's something steelier at Your Majesty's core than your average basement band, and liner note "Tanks" to Page Hamilton make more sense after the initial listen: songs like "My Saintly Condition" and "Cornered" are short and scrappy in the style of fellow Helmet-heads Therapy? Combined with grimy funk a la Gang of Four and a mood that can verge on the gothic, one might expect a grim listening experience.

But Your Majesty, thankfully, eschew Helmet's repetitive-motion disorder for Therapy?'s brevity, making their point and moving quickly from one song to the next. Most songs on Jive Shucker seem fully developed without reaching the three minute mark, and the one ten-minute-plus track suggests it's just as well they keep 'em short and sweet.

After several listens, what initially sounds uniform reveals a subtle variety: Chris Lauterbach's vocals are especially impressive, ranging from incomprehensible David Yow-style rants on "The Rise and Fall of Sherilyn Fenn" to a sinister sotto voce for "Intention=15%". The rhythm section is deceptively sloppy-sounding at first; after a few listens, drummer Michel Adi sounds like he could be Your Majesty's strongest musical asset. With a few dollars more for production, this band's sound - particularly Lauterbach's guitar - could be packaged separately to peel paint from your walls.

Only the last track on this 34-minute album stumbles, not surprising as it's the aforementioned ten-minute dirge "Live at the Pink Flamingo Lounge", and even this is mitigated by the fact that you can hear the T.V. in the background. Buy Jive Shucker and give this band enough money to make the tremendous follow-up that is destined to be. And never mind that acid allusion, or the semi-psychedelic monochrome cover: for maximum listening enjoyment, your highness is preferred, but not essential.

Sean G. Thomas, Sean Thomas, Sean Garrett Thomas