[Video] Grinderman’s “Heathen Child” is Flippin’ Brilliant

I’ve long been a fan of Nick Cave as in evidence when I enthusiastically covered how he may be a likely candidate to re-write The Crow re-boot script (and would be a fitting scribe indeed).

Cave has recently branched out from his normal band, the Bad Seeds, to perform with Grinderman, which is largely composed of members of the Bad Seeds. The main difference is that Grinderman is Cave’s more experimental musical outlet and, in fact, is a project born of improvisation. From allmusic.com:

Grinderman came to be when Cave was writing material in 2004 for his acclaimed album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. Tired of writing in his office at home and then presenting the material to the Bad Seeds, Cave decided to try a new approach by teaming up with bandmembers Martyn Casey on bass, Warren Ellis on violin and guitar, and Jim Sclavunos on drums and working up songs as a group. With Cave improvising lyrics and playing guitar while his bandmates built melodies around them, the musicians began veering off into more experimental territory. Whipping up a potent dose of elemental music rooted in blues, punk, and no wave, the foursome created something wholly separate from the Bad Seeds, with an energy and emotional fury that pointed to the pathbreaking music of their pasts while belying the maturity of the participants.

Many may mistake Cave for being crazy or purposely over the top. Neither could be farther from the truth. Cave is a brutally honest musician who explores his own demons and musings in his music while ingeniously playing in cliche. That’s how the same artist can come up with the songs “Into My Arms” and “O’Malley’s Bar.” If you don’t know what I mean, look up the lyrics. Ok, wait, I will:

Into My Arms [Excerpt]

I don’t believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms

O’Malley’s Bar [Excerpt]

My hand decided that the time was nigh
And for a moment it slipped from view
And when it returned, it fairly burned
With confidence anew

Well the thunder from my steely fist
Made all the glasses jangle
When I shot him, I was so handsome
It was the light, it was the angle

Huh! Hmmmmm

“Neighbours!” I cried, “Friends!” I screamed
I banged my fist upon the bar
“I bear no grudge against you!”
And my dick felt long and hard
“I am the man for which no God waits
And for which the whole world yearns
I’m marked by darkness and by blood
And one thousand powder-burns”

Well, you know those fish with swollen lips
That clean the ocean floor?
When I looked at poor O’Malley’s wife
That is exactly what I saw

I jammed the barrel under her chin
And her face looked raw and vicious
Her head it landed in the sink
With all the dirty dishes

“O’Malley’s” is just Cave being funny. Wait till he gets serious – like on “Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow,” or “Hallelujah” (not another Leonard Cohen cover). Those songs are really twisted though they sneak up on you like a ninja.

Anyway, Nick Cave’s music moves from emotional, earnest, and searching to vulgar, tense, dark, and totally mental. That’s not weird – that’s human. Coldplay is weird. No one can think that schlock all the time.

Cave’s playful side (possibly confused for batshit crazy) is extraordinarily on display in this music video for the first single off Grinderman’s new album called Grinderman 2. The song is called “Heathen Child.” Enjoy:

NSFW