Onward Crispin Glover - "The Further And The Faster"
Anodyne Records

You may not believe me, and this is probably a bit oddball for most people who are familiar with the rock machine that is Onward Crispin Glover (aka OCG), but I believe this album is exactly the sort of music Nirvana would have been doing, had Kurt Cobain managed to stay alive.

Byron's lyrics have that same sort of vague specifity that Cobain's always did, not really saying anything definite, but keeping to themes that are fairly universal and easily molded to one's own worldview. His vocals also walk that line between throaty singing and out-and-out shouting.

Billy's drums are strong and forceful, without threatening to overpower the entire album. Kristin's bass line provides the same powerful, nearly danceable throb that Krist Novaselic's work in Nirvana did. It's not as loud as Nirvana was, but still has the same beauty in distortion.

"Action" shares a bit of its bass line with "Molly's Lips," and "Marshall, Will and Holly" is exactly the fuzz pedal dream that Nirvana would have dreamed up in their heyday.

However, OCG manages to make their music distinct and catchy in a way that no other band I'm familiar with does today. Their songs are catchy and hummable, when you can catch Byron's vocals behind the guitar fuzz and distortion effects. "No Need For Checkpoints" grabbed me by the ears and insinuated itself in my brain from the first minute I heard it, and the "I stopped doing what she asked" refrain of "Weightrr" is shouted/sung with the kind of intensity that makes me wanna scream along every time I hear it.

So, aside from overuse of the distortion effects that cause the album to border on murkiness, this is by far one of the most addictive albums I've heard all year. There have been harder rocking albums and more danceable albums, but The Further and the Faster is the only release locally to have completely hooked me.