It’s unclear whether the Jesus Lizard are an active band to any degree at the moment – an ambiguous status level the noise-rock tricksters seem to enjoy as much as they do occasionally reuniting for an unexpected swing of shows or even a new record. But with vocalist David Yow having ditched the U.S. for Poland, the chances seem slimmer than usual for another reunion of any sort.
But that’s not to say the other band members – we’re looking at you, guitarist Duane Denison – are inclined to rest on their laurels. At the end of a 20-minute video conversation with Melvins main man Buzz Osborne that Consequence posted two days ago, Denison mentioned – almost as an aside – that he’s formed a new band in Nashville, where he currently resides. It’s called D2 Archipelago and features two other players: guitarist Matt Swanson and drummer Brian Kotzur, formerly of Lambchop (also based in Nashville) and Silver Jews, respectively.
“The real deal” is a phrase that gets bandiedabout often – excessively and sloppily so when it comes to singer/songwriters. But listen to Nashville musician William Tyler say five words, and you’ll immediately identify his Achilles’ heel: bullshit. Tyler has no reason to bloviate when he’s spent so much of his decorated career recording and touring with a litany of other sacrilegiously overlooked yet irrefutably talented musicians of the indie-folk, Americana and cosmic country varities. Tyler had membership in Silver Jews and Lambchop, made a record five years ago with Marissa Anderson, and counts Bonnie “Prince” Billy as one of his multitudinous collaborators.
Over the course of his three-decade career, the immediately disarming and infectiously kind Tyler’s list of credits runs longer than one featured at the end of a Sergio Leone film. And yet occasions in which Tyler overtly tackles topical issues or shares his beliefs about politics and the like are rare. Which is why The Bad Penny took note of Tyler’s participation in a recent compilation co-produced by indie filmmaker Rick Alverson called Passages: Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers. A description accompanying the Western Vinyl release stated: “Passages is both an acknowledgement of work in progress and an invitation to do more. Our representatives need to see us. Our families need to hear from us. Our neighbors and local organizations on the front lines of this crisis are ready for us to join them.”
Curious to learn more about the collection and its participants, we reached out to some of the contributors. One of them curiously rebuffed our invitation to participate in On Tyranny, saying “I really don’t feel like any of my troubles are the real burden of this moment.” But as the days, weeks, months and years in the still-nascent fascist regime taking hold of this country are proving, none of us will be untouched by the shock, awe, pain and lament that is growing like a cancer inside our collective civic body.
The Bad Penny (beta) 