5 out of 5

Label: Thirsty Ear

Producer: J.G. Thirlwell (as Clint Ruin)

Yeah.  Yyeah.  So – Nail is probably, obviously, the best album of the early Foetus career, finding an exciting balance of all things Thirlwell – the showtunes / carnival influence, the industrial stomp, the spazzed out wildman, the evil growl, the funky shuffle, and etcetera and etcetera and etcetera.  As the Allmusic review states (ever so briefly), the range of music in the disc is jaw-dropping, but what’s always made Foetus (or Thirwell) stand apart from similar genre jumpers – or the slew of Ipecac bands he would one day inspire – is that he rarely sounds like he’s trying to make such joyful noise composites.  It just happens for him; the songs could be constructed in no other way.  But many of his recordings tend to dip too deeply into a particular well, or do include some filler or moments that just don’t work.  These things will happen with every artist, but considering Thirlwell’s immense output, the generally high level of quality maintained has always been impressive.

And so when you get 40 minutes of solid tracks, where every beat and frill is perfect, it’s that much more awesome.  Or something.  Structure that comparison however it works for you.  The point is: ‘Nail’ is re-listenable forever.  It’s somewhat thematic structure (‘Theme’ and ‘Overture’ from Pigdom Come) seem to give Thirlwell just the right dash of focus, and his more vehement swill is spread evenly across the album, making each song the right blend of gloomy, smarmy fun.  Except for the instrumental tracks, everything here ranges from 4 to 6 minutes, but there’s no wasted time.  The noise experimentation of ‘Deaf’ is properly funneled to work with the ebb and flow via brief interludes, and the playfulness from ‘Hole’ that Thrilwell couldn’t quite, at the point, figure out how to blend with his hatred gets its due at surprising moments that break your head with the need to either do the jitterbug or punch your neighbor.

1985, man.  Who knew.