Review: God Lives Underwater, Empty

God Lives Underwater, Empty - Jamie Roberts

They’ve got the proverbial fuzzbox and they certainly put it to good use! Laying it all out comparable to the likes of Machines of Loving Grace or Filter, GLU creates a dark, brooding sonic view of the world. With titles like “No More Love” , “Fool”, and “Scared” the thematic collection would be depressing were it not for the well-crafted grooves and faster pace of many of the tracks.

Adam Kary, Andrew Mcgee, David Reilly and Jeff Turzo are God Lives Underwater, Turzo and Reilly being the ‘brains behind the musical mayhem’ (ie. writing the songs). They released a self-titled EP not too long ago that was brilliant. Their performance at the “Sextasy Ball”, about a month ago in New York, with Thrill Kill Kult and Lords Of Acid was equally brilliant. Taking this as a hint of what was to come, I braced myself for the full-length effort.

The most glaring oversight in the compilation of the aforementioned first full-length release was the omission of the in-your-face opening track to the EP, “Drag Me Down”. It seems as if only a couple of the EP songs carried over to the album. It’s a shame, because some of the tracks that didn’t carry over, moved a bit better than some we got on Empty. The EP is worth checking out as an addition to the album, not instead of it.

Empty’s brightest tracks are “All Wrong” and “No More Love”, providing contrast for the dimmer “23” and “Scared”. What the dim tracks do provide is a showcase for a technologically augmented band’s singing ability. The lead is well taken, and translates to live sound well unlke many of their contemporaries. Talent!? What a concept!

Original Date: 1995-10-15
Original URL: westnet.com link