Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds
(In The Red)
Watchers of Kid Congo Powers - that would be Brian Tristan to friends and family - over the years have long noted the slide guitarist's invaluable contributions to the Gun Club (which he co-founded with Jeffrey Lee Pierce, split from, then later returned to the fold in time for 1984's Las Vegas Story), the Cramps (essential LP: 1981's Psychedelic Jungle) and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Tender Prey, The Good Son, from '88 and '90). He's also worked with numerous other outfits over the years, including Die Haut, the Divine Horsemen (w/Chris D), Michael Gira's Angels of Light, Mark Eitzel and Barry Adamson, additionally indulging his collaborative muse with the NYC likes of Knoxville Girls, Botanica, Kid and Khan, and Congo Norvell (the latter w/vocalist Sally Norvell; their 1997 release Abnormals Anonymous is a unheralded classic).
Regardless of who he surrounds himself with, Powers never fails to bring the proverbial fretboard primal scream to the project, a piercing open-tuned twang conveying druggy, noirish dread lined with a macabre sense of humor, all powered by a hi-nrg aesthetic honed by having been at Punk Ground Zero when he first commenced operations in Los Angeles in the mid/late ‘70s. Once in awhile he steps out with a project more readily identified as a solo effort, which is what the Pink Monkey Birds, originally a collaboration between Powers and Jack Martin of the Knoxville Girls and dating back to about 2001, has evolved into. Dracula Boots is only the second PMB album - it's preceded by 2005's Philosophy and Underwear - but it serves nicely as both an affirmation of and an introduction to the Kid Congo aesthetic.
The album kicks off with "LSDC" (make of the title what you will), a simmering slice of electro-garage heavy on trebly fuzz guitar, wraithlike synth wails and a chanted, shamanistic vocal. Speaking of garage, a cover of mid-‘60s East L.A. Chicano rockers' Thee Midniters' "I Found A Peanut" is delivered in uproarious fashion, part fratty R&B and part minimalist punk. The other cover appearing here, "Funky Fly," was originally served up by Bo Diddley," but aside from the persistent maraca throb linking back to the signature Bo beat it bears only slight resemblance to the original; instead, with the droning organ and serrated guitar licks cutting through the mix, the instrumental resembles a No Wave take on psychedelia.
Elsewhere you get a visit from "Black Santa" (a loopy instro written by PMB bassist Kiki Solis and drummer Ron Miller), have a taste of "Pumpkin Pie" (a kind of neo-Blaxploitation theme, funky and dynamic), and experience how it feels to be "Rare As the Yeti (a churning distorto-anthem that, with its echoey guitars and sardonic, B-movie vocal recitation, bears a distinctive Crampsian imprint). Things wrap up with "Late Night Scurry," a spoken word piece recalling a bizarre dream and namechecking, among others, Michael Jackson and Crocus Behemoth (a/k/a Pere Ubu's David Thomas); here, Powers indulges his signature slide guitar twang against a gothic-tilting bass/drums graveyard trudge.
It's all good, and it's all great, disposable fun guaranteed to liven up any house party populated by freaks, geeks, misfits and miscreants. Kinda like all those folks Kid Congo's been associated with over the years, in fact. Fangs a lot, Kid!
Standout Tracks: "Rare As the Yeti," "Funky Fly" FRED MILLS
