The Jesus Lizard are back. They have never really been away, in truth. Well, OK, the hugely influential post-hardcore band who had formed in Austin, Texas in 1987 did break up around the turn of the millennium but were then to reform eight years later. There was also to be a further hiatus between 2010-17. And, yeah, after 1998’s Blue they didn’t release an album for 26 years. But in June of last year, the news broke that the Jesus Lizard were about to release their seventh studio album – Rack was to see the light of day in September – and would embark upon a tour of North America and Europe.
The Jesus Lizard are now here in the United Kingdom and Leeds marks the third date of this leg of the tour. The fact that every single one of these shows sold out in double-quick time proves that for all the gaps in their career, the band’s massive appeal has never diminished. And what makes this return even more special is that it features The Jesus Lizard’s three founding members – David Yow (vocals), Duane Denison (guitar), and David Wm. Sims (bass) – alongside long-standing drummer, Mac McNeilly.
The last time I saw David Yow in this venue was more than five years ago when he was fronting the seminal punk outfit, Flipper. By way of introduction, he had said “Good evening, I’m Peter Lorimer” though I am not entirely sure anyone there that night fully believed he had played in that great Leeds United team of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
This evening he is equally playful greeting us with a cheery “Good afternoon” – you kind of suspect that half nine at night is always mid-afternoon in Yow world – before announcing “We are The Smiths.” To avoid any further case of mistaken identity, though, I somehow doubt Morrissey would have jumped straight into the crowd right from the off and he most certainly wouldn’t have invited the crowd to join him later in a glorious chant of “Fuck Trump.”
Having disappeared through the crowd in the general direction of the bar, David Yow quickly returns to the stage. There he joins his three comrades in arms and together they proceed to lay often terrifying waste to many selected highlights from all their studio albums – well, all except Blue – leaning most heavily upon Rack and their second such offering, 1991’s Goat as they do so.
I counted 23 songs in total, eight of which were split across two electrifying, elongated encores. The last drop of sweat was eventually squeezed out of the Jesus Lizard as they departed the stage one by glorious one with Mac McNeilly’s thunderous drum tattoo still rattling around what was left of our brains.
It was a brilliant exercise in controlled chaos. The music is all crashing post-punk guitar chords laid bare across the tight, tumultuous rhythm section of Sims and McNeilly – man, what a groove these guys lay down – over which David Yow just yowls, often whilst stretched across the arms of those in the audience. At 64 years of age, you feel he may well be in need of the occasional rest.
Yet for all of the music’s minimalism, fierce primal energy, and rough confrontational edges – songs like ‘Hide & Seek’, the lead single from Rack captures all of those elements quite perfectly – there is a quietly understated eloquence to the Jesus Lizard sound. During the second encore ‘Fly on the Wall’, Duane Denison’s chiming guitar is beautifully redolent of Keith Levine’s work on PiL’s Metal Box. And two songs later, ‘Armistice Day’ affirms there is so much more musically to them than just mere mayhem. But above all else, seeing and hearing the Jesus Lizard is just hugely entertaining and really such great fun.
Photos: Simon Godley
More photos of the Jesus Lizard at Brudenell Social Club
