The Severed Cortex

Link: http://www.livingthingsmusic.com/

Lord knows I love things dysfunctional, especially when they come via the art form.  Specifically, when you get a group of dysfunctional individuals together in a band you can usually count on something explosive to happen.  Few from the current youth generation remember a time when Aerosmith couldn't even stand the thought of taking the stage together.  Arguably, it happened at the same moment they were considered to be at their musical best.  The same can be said for the Pixies or Oasis or any number of bands that lived on the edge of burning out in a blaze of glory.  There's something about mental tension between artists and their art form that brings out something extra, making people stand up and take note.

What happens when that dysfunction is planned out ahead of time?  I'm not talking reality show planned out.  I'm talking about when all the pieces seem to fit together just a little too perfectly.  Enter Living Things, three brothers, and their friend, from none other than the whitebread suburbs of northwest Saint Louis county.  How could that be dysfunctional you ask?  Well, the brothers were raised by what can be described as a left wing loony mother and a carny father.  They got the musical bug as small kids by playing at the carnivals their dad travelled to.  Sort of like Hanson, but most likely much darker.  Playing carnivals most certainly warped them.  Need proof?   They refer to themselves as Lillian Berlin, Eve Berlin, and Bosh Berlin?  Yes, they do.  Starting to get the dysfunctional picture now?  Although I know little about Cory Becker, the other member, I'll assume he has his share of issues too.  Guilt by association.

Tired of midwest sensabilities, the boys run off to L.A., land a very quick record deal, and continue the unlikely good fortune by working with none other than Steve Albini for their debut on Jive Records, a very mainstream label.  You may not be a fan of Albini's music starting with Big Black, but I guarantee you love something that Steve Albini produced.  Once you start  bandying Steve Albini's name in reference to your record, you pretty much are at the pinnacle of the unheralded music world.  Living Things music seems to move past being a good band that no one ever hears about though.

They manage to do that by making what is considerally more of  a mainstream record than their debut. For Habeaus Corpus, the band didn't use Steve Albini.  Why stay the best unknown band if you don't have to?  You have the musical chops, you have the stage presence, and you have the background story.  Might as well kick it up a notch, right?  So is this whole thing choreographed by some master puppeteer?  Probably, but if so, it does manage to crank out several good tunes along the way.  Most notable are the first four songs.  Brass Knuckles sets the tone by kicking out a straight ahead rocker highlighted by fuzzy guitars and some nifty vocal hooks.  Mercedes Marxist showcases the lefty leanings of Lillian, and I presume the other members too.  In fairness he does refer to both the left wing and right wing as parasites.  It's clear that mom's teachings are an influence as there is an overt reference to her mid song.  Let it Rain can't get any more mainstream since it sounds like it should be heard in any number of movies or TV shows.  Normally that would turn me off but it doesn't in this case.  Oxygen is a slight step down from the first three but still packs a punch.  From that point on, the album sort of levels off, with the exception of Island In Your Heart which is just plain awful.  Everything else maintains the same guitar fuzz and vocal hooks just like the first half of the record, especially Shake Your Shimmy, but the songs don't quite live up to the power of the lead tracks.  The rest of the songs also contain a fair amount a left leaning politics so if that ain't your thing you may be turned off.  I take them with a grain of salt.  There's plenty of protest music in rock and roll, as well as whatever you classify Ted Nugent and Charlie Daniels as.  There's room for everyone if you ask me.   The point is, with different lyrics you'd be humming these songs in your car regardless of political leanings for no other reason than they are solid pop songs.

If this meteoric rise to this point has been nothing more than a choreographed progression designed specifically to become the next big thing, you can't argue that it hasn't worked.  There is enough good material, and I'm sure enough residual income, to warrant another studio release.  Provided of course the dysfunction, planned or not, winds up pushing the band over the edge.  If it does happen, this record will probably be considered their finest work.  Get in on it now while you can.