Congo Norvell

The Dope The Lies The Vasaline (Basura/Priority)
by Nik Rainey

Kid Congo Powers knows how to conjure up a shambolic storm with his noir-tinted guitar, as fans of the Bad Seeds, Cramps, and Gun Club can readily testify. Consequently, the best moments of this collaboration with bleached-black chanteuse Sally Norvell head netherward with descending six-string slipstreams of vintage Powers power. However, Norvell is aloof (and there are far too many loofs around these days) where Cave, Pierce, and Interior frothed and snapped, and aside from passages where she wrenches/contrives passion from her voice (“The Girl Who Would Be King” especially), she fades into a muzzy gray where this audio-cinematic genre demands high-contrast black and white (and maybe a few splotches of red – you name a song “Murder” at this late date, and you’d better leave some viscera on the sheets when you go). Not without its finer points, but overall, the dope has too many seeds and not enough resin, the lies aren’t big enough to lengthen Pinocchio’s proboscis, and the vaseline is smeared all over the camera lens and nowhere more fun.