The Essential
Sean Kitching
, February 5th, 2021 08:47
A new compilation on Knitting Factory Records proves Lucas was always more than just a capable sideman to the likes of Captain Beefheart and Jeff Buckley, finds Sean Kitching
Although he’s principally known for his work with Captain Beefheart and Jeff Buckley, and to a lesser extent for his own psychedelic blues band, Gods And Monsters, the vast range of styles that Gary Lucas is fluent in, and the extent of the list of his hugely talented collaborators, finds full expression on this two-CD, 36-track anthology.
Gods And Monsters, who saw Jeff Buckley, the Modern Lovers’ Jerry Harrison and Ernie Brooks, Television and Waitresses drummer, Billy Ficca, and Richard Barone of The Bongos pass through their ranks at one time or another, take up the entirety of the first disc. ‘Fata Morgana’ (another term for optical illusion, or mirage, which also references the mythical sorceress Morgan le Fay), is a powerful opening salvo. Lucas’s guitar is so lithe and fleet of foot as to almost overtake itself, close to evading gravity entirely, with Ficca and Brooks aiding and abetting the flight with a wonderfully exuberant rhythm section. ‘Evangeline’, with LaMonte Young, Swans and Rhys Chatham associate, Jonathan Kane, behind the kit, is slower paced but equally wonderful, with Lucas’ sustained notes recalling in places, the single-minded intensity of Snakefinger’s guitar playing. Elsewhere, ex-New York Doll, David Johansen lends his unmistakable rasp to ‘One Man’s Meat’.