A couple of quick sweeping statements that may or may not be hyperbole: 1) Boris is one of the greatest bands in the world today. Period. So great that they are often taken for granted as they rack up excellent release after release. One never has to ask whether or not a new Boris album is going to be good; because it is, one just has to remember that even after countless full lengths, singles and eps that they should continue to be celebrated for being one of the greatest bands of our time. 2) Boris is also one, if not the, most versatile rock bands...ever. I cannot think of another band that is, or has been, able to straddle pop rock, heavy metal, hard rock, extreme noise, drone, ambient, post rock, even dance rock with the virtuoso skill of Boris. They have mastered so many styles of music that the only serious question one asks when a new Boris album is released is not whether or not it is good, because, like I said, it always is, but what KIND of Boris album it is. Is it going to be ambient like "Flood", epic like "Feederback", doom sludge like "Amplifier Worship", psyche pop like "Rainbow", or balls out rock and roll like "Pink"? As if to prove that point the band has just released two very different kinds of releases that continue to expand on their ever-growing legacy. "BXI" is a collaboration with semi-legendary Cult frontman Ian Astbury, whereas "Luna" is a single twelve minute track featured on a split 10" with Torche entitled "Chapter Ahead Being Fake". One is an enjoyable but slight detour for the band, while the other is a culmination and leap forward of the sound the band has been toying with since the grossly under-appreciated "Smile".Of the two, "BXI" is the lesser release, but it is still worth picking up and blaring out of your stereo speakers. When I first learned that Boris had collaborated with Astbury my first reaction was pretty much 'what the fuck?' Back in the day I more than got my groove on to The Cult's still amazing "Love" and "Electric", but let's be honest, the band hasn't really done much since. To his credit those two albums still hallow the ground that Astbury walks to a large degree, also of his hard rocking contemporaries he has aged better than most, if not all. He certainly doesn't provoke the grimaces and smirks that younger progeny like Chris Cornell do(Soundgarden reunion could have been something if Cornell didn't spend the last twelve years crapping on his band's legacy). With that in mind after I got over my initial shock, intrigue and anticipation set in. Maybe Boris could inject some of their magic into Astbury's mid-to-late career status.
What is most striking about "BXI" is that it doesn't really sound like Boris, at first, as much as it does a parallel universe version of The Cult. Closer listens reveal otherwise, but this is a record you crank to 11, so subtleties are not really the order of the day. The ep starts out with "Teeth and Claws", which is the track most likely to get its hooks in you and become the earworm that plays in your head when you wake in the morning. It's an upbeat epic-sounding rocker that sounds a lot like a throwback to the early 90s and grunge. It doesn't hurt that Astbury's voice doesn't sound a day over 1985, and I mean that as a serious complement. Astbury has range and there is nothing here that indicates he has lost an octave since "Love". At the center of the song are Astbury's lyrics steeped in pagan-romanticism. Two of the song's central lyrics are "the animals will save us" and "attack attack attack" (referring to the animals saving us) which is wonderfully complemented by guitarist extraordinaire Wata's guitar counterpoint. Yeah, it's kind of goofy, but it also rocks like hell and plays on a certain primalism that is undeniable.
The ep's other highlight "We Are Witches" follows with an equally heavy rocker that is much darker. Again Astbury's lyrics take centerstage and have something to do with an occult apocalypse, but it does deliver a hell of a refrain; "standing there like a victim will only get you killed!". Boris again perfectly compliments Astbury's almost too big for life presence with a perfectly attuned performance that smolders and burns alongside the singer's charismatic delivery.
Interestingly enough the most expendable track on "BXI" is Boris' cover of The Cult's classic song "Rain". Wata takes vocal duties on the track, and the band plays a reinterpretation of the track that sounds like a hybrid of a bar-band cover version and dance remix that does nothing to add to the original other than bolster it as the one and only definitive version. More than anything what the track makes you realize is that Astbury is a damn amazing singer. I love Wata's songs with Boris, but she really can't compete as a vocalist with Astbury. This track may have absolutely killed if he had re-recorded his vocals with Boris playing.
"BXI" ends with the mellow, but nevertheless epic (as if it could be any other way with this fucking guy singing) track "Magickal Child". Again Astbury paints with lyrics steeped in pagan-romanticism over Boris' perfectly complementary bombast. More than before, though, Boris sounds like Boris. Subtle fuzz turns into a chasmic soundscape that is part doom and part hope which stirs the soul either way. Christ, did I say this was the lesser release of the two pieces in this review? Like I said earlier; all Boris releases are good and this is no exception. You just might have to readjust the settings on your stereo to 1991. Regardless, I would love to hear more. It's clear from this release that Boris respects the hell out of Astbury and plays alongside him as organically as The Cult did. That's a pretty cool thing in and of its self, but its a goddamned amazing thing when you remember that the band we are talking about is Boris, who do not need Ian Astbury to make a name for themselves. The fact that Astbury really is the star of this recording speaks volumes about both artists. "Luna", on the other hand, is a different story entirely.
Starting with "Smile" Boris began to incorporate more pop elements into their experimental heavy as hell sound. Not that they risked producing a top 40 hit, after all, the album's most "pop" song was the ever so radio-friendly titled "My Neighbour Satan" featuring blistering guitar freakouts, and inside out, upside down, kaleidoscopic production. It was not exactly "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". Nevertheless the band continued to explore the boundaries of pop-metal on a series of seven inches for Southern Lord titled "Japanese Heavy Rock Hits". In hindsight "Satan" and those most excellent seven inches all appear to be variations on the band's attempt to digest and produce pop songs on their own terms. In the process Boris has crafted a whole new sound, not just for their repertoire, but for music in general. "Luna" is a culmination of those ideas and that sound. It's Boris' version of pop writ large.
The heart of "Luna" is all blast beats and tonal guitars, yet somehow the song manages to be incredibly uplifting and beautiful. Even when the song shifts and Takeshi's pulsating dance-oriented bass drops out and all that is left is twisted black metal-infected guitar and drummer Atsuo's insane blast beats, the band's harmonies continue to elevate the song into something gorgeous. It's an epic track reflective of the frontiers that Boris has been breaking down and redefining over the past couple of years and one that will either signal an end to this chapter, or another charge forward into more pop-metal bliss. Interestingly, the track comes to an end with a snippet of the kind of massive sludge doom that the band started their career playing, leaving the answer to that question wide open. Either way "Luna" will satiate while whetting appetites for what comes next.
So, like I said, Boris is the one of the greatest bands in the world today. If you don't know that already, then you don't know much.
"Luna" live
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