I had never heard of the Brian Jonestown Massacre until I watched the classic rock-rivalry documentary Dig!, which featured The Dandy Warhols and BJM. 
I presume both bands were whacked out of their minds while making the film, but the movie was still quite entertaining. After seeing the movie, I stayed tuned to the Warhols, and have checked up on BJM every so often to see what kind of hi-jinks they were pulling.
So, imagine my surprise when a copy of BJM’s new album came a’floating into my inbox.
Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? was released on January 1, 2010, and I’m relatively certain that each song on the album is about a different stage in a drug trip.
The album is chock-full of jam-tastic tracks. I admit, this style isn’t my thing, but, if you are into deep bass, squealing guitars, faint, chanting vocals, and hypno-dance beats, this album is for you.
Although many of the album’s songs meld together into a psychedelic jumble, a few stand out. “White Music,” is filled with iridescent electronic tones. Picked strings play atop ambient noise.
In “Someplace Else Unknown,” the band creates a driving march inspired beat. The song’s lyrics, which tell of drug hounding and violence, are a bit ridiculous and weaken the song, though. The band’s point is driven home, however; they seriously don’t give a fuck about fuck, unless you’re fucking talking about fucking drugs, man.
“Felt Tipped-Pen Pictures of UFO’s,” is a mishmash voices. John Lennon‘s “The Beatles are Bigger than Jesus” interview is mixed and played over other people talking about Lennon and The Beatles. Hmm … wait, hmm?
Track Listing:
- Tempo 116.7 (Reaching Dangerous Levels of Sobriety)
- Pungur Hnifur
- Let’s Go Fucking Mental
- White Music
- This Is the First of Your Last Warning
- This is the One Thing We Did Not Want to Have Happen
- The One
- Someplace Else Unknown
- Dekta! Dekta! Dekta!
- Super Fucked
- Our Time
- Feel It (Of Course We Fucking Do!)
- Felt-Tipped Pen Pictures of UFOs
