5 out of 5

Label: Lovepump United

Produced by: Jason LaFarge

If you follow the musical lineage of anyone involved in Child Abuse, you’ll see a lot of hardcore jazz going on.  And the term could still absolutely apply to CA, though Tim Dahl’s grindcore-esque vocals might lead you to dump the band into a different genre and run away screaming.  The spastic nature of the group – always changing, stopping to pound on a riff for a blessed moment and hit it until it seems it might die and then exploding into completely unexpected territory – and the incensed yelp of the singing also brought to mind Racebannon, a group which often got a Captain Beefheart comparison which slightly confused my non-Beefheart listening ears.  I’ve only very, very lightly dabbled in the Captian since, but if I step from Racebannon to Child Abuse to Beefheart, it absolutely makes sense.  Peel away the utter noise and you’ve got a group blessed with some truly inventive song construction, whether it’s improv or not, perhaps most easily evidenced on the instrumental ‘Supplicant,’ its toe-tapping beat-making heart exposed.  Not that you want the noise peeled away, of course, as the juxtaposition of an utterly loud and perhaps aurally offensive band with sickly catchy songs is one of the charms of CA, plus the fact that when the musical chops are pushed to their edge – check the drone breakdown that spasms into an unfollowable time signature on opener ‘Wrong Hole’ – its jaw-dropping to hear the precision in the playing.  And even though I dig Racebannon, this is where a set of players like those in this group have an edge over ‘Bannon, as producer Jason LaFarge has a history with the style and thus knows how to properly capture the madness, every detail crisp and clear, not over- or underwhelming, and our bassist, drummer and keyboardist have an understanding of playing off of one another and when to all let loose.

The newer album by CA I own (2014) got lost in some stagnant moments, but this 2007 effort is a sharp and concise version of this sound, packaging and sequencing and production all in line to make it as effective and listenable as it possibly can be, highlighting the underlying catchiness in the madness.  The 10+ minute wait for some minimalist sound experiments after the last track may kill the flow, but its still an interesting end-note for how it can dispel the demons amped up by the preceding music, and clear the palate for a re-listen.  (And we don’t really count ‘secret tracks’ in reviews, do we?)