Electricity

Rating

Album: Electricity
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Wined Up
2)	Quality
3)	Clear By Morning
4)	Dear Boss
5)	Scattered Logic
6)	Electricity
7)	By Small Degrees
8)	Next
9)	Snare
10)	Don't Look Down
11)	Couldn't Write a Book
12)	Every Once in a While
13)	Just Nothing
14)	Crossover
15)	White Prole
16)	Brighten or Bleed
17)	Scissors
18)	Image of a Single Thought
19)	Don't Call Me, I'll Call You
20)	Swerve
21)	Chorus of Interludes, A

Performer Notes

Recorded at a variety of sessions over two years, Jefferies' second solo release continues in the vein of his previous work, exploring both the gentler and nerve-wracking sides of his music with aplomb. As with Last Great Challenge, a number of musical guests appear throughout, including past collaborators Shayne Carter, who turns in some fine guitar work on the frazzled opening song "Wined Up'" Bruce Russell, whose own scrabbling guitar on the lengthy "Just Nothing" is another highlight, and Robbie Muir. Jefferies is still very much the main creator of the album nonetheless, playing instruments ranging from his usual drums and piano to digital cello. His vocals retain the stentorian delivery from the past, though perhaps with a little more of an emotional edge at points. Many of the tracks are quite short, yet they rarely feel like fragments or intentionally abbreviated tracks ? la Wire. "Scattered Logic," for example, rides a gentle keyboard line as Jefferies' lyric lives up to the title, reflecting on a lack of continuity. The longer "By Small Degrees" is one of his most striking compositions yet, starting with piano and a found-sound recording done on a road; his counterpoint lyric in the second part of the song brings to mind someone walking down said road and trying to keep in contact with someone, as the music slowly builds up with cello and gentle drums before ending abruptly. The rough edges of Jefferies' usual recording quality that have added so much to his songs over the years are again preserved here -- tape hiss and heavily distorted vocals and melodic lines rub up against very pristine recordings. It all wraps up with a lovely piano-based cover of Barbara Manning's "Scissors," an affectionate salute from one artistic outsider to another. ~ Ned Raggett

Professional Reviews

Alternative Press (12/94, pp.87-88) - "...Velvet-oid production on the drums [and] a digital cello making the same kind of squeaks as John Cale's viola....ELECTRICITY could actually be held up as a shining example of how to distill more influences than you could shake a stick at..."

Option (11-12/94, pp.123-124) - "...He's like a piano-bar player who's thought many times about blasting away his audience with a sawed-off shotgun. And that's a sentiment you can trust..."