David Yow – Tonight You Look Like a Spider

Fourteen years on from the Jesus Lizard’s demise (excluding reunion tours), David Yow has finally released a solo debut which was purportedly conceived even before the breakup. The long gestation process has not, however, resulted in the kind of taut, intense precision with which the Jesus Lizard are associated. Tonight You Look Like a Spider was apparently inspired by Mike Patton, and the LP is a bleak trawl through a loosely-structured Patton-esque soundscape of paranoia and abrasiveness.

There are occasional echoes of the Jesus Lizard in the visceral, grinding basslines on Roundhouse and Bleth My Thoul, but for the most part Spider relies upon doom-laden synths, scattered low piano arpeggios, whining feedback and low-mixed saxophone squalls. The complete absence of vocals or traditional rock structures will alienate some fans of Yow’s former work; yet the menacing tone is instantly familiar, manifesting his unmistakably acerbic persona in an entirely new form.