The Bad Penny (beta)

[With Jesus Lizard vocalist David Yow having moved to Portugal, now seems as good a time as any to roll out the most incisive and insightful interview among the handful I did with him. Previously out of print and conducted roughly 21 years ago, here’s a toast to the only rock star who always does have a can of beer in his hand.]

As many of you have probably gathered and/or heard, a lot of the talk following this weekend’s Pitchfork fest has regarded the almost-night-capping Friday performance by the Jesus Lizard. If it hadn’t been for Built to Spill’s closing billing that evening, you would’ve expected the Liz to have left crowdmembers stumbling home with loose teeth shaking in their mouths and broken toes slapping around in their shoes.

The informed among us are well aware that those lovable ’90s crank-rock cretins called the Lizard have propagated a lethal dose of gratuitous grime, grit and glib glee over the masses since they recently re-collected themselves for redux performances. From the band’s confidants, we’ve heard reports that theirs was a solid show, one that should place David Yow and the gang on a secure path laid toward redemptive riches as the Liz re-arouses its fanbase for a series of widely unexpected reunion gigs throughout this year (and beyond? And a new album while we’re at it? Are we pressing buttons or just our luck?).