Recorded at a show at legendary New York venue CBGB's in late 1990, the two-disc
Male shows
Foetus and a crack band ripping through songs old and new, plus a few fun surprises along the way. Engineered by
Martin Bisi, the recording packs all the brutal, unrelenting punch and atmosphere of
Foetus' studio work, while the band itself avoids slouching at any and all points. The band membership itself is worthy of note, containing as it does a number of worthy names, many of whom also worked with
Foetus' friend and sometime collaborator
Michael Gira of
Swans -- bassist
Algis Kizys, guitarist
Norman Westberg, and drummer
Vinnie Signorelli are present and fully accounted for. Matched thus by similarly minded aesthetic souls (and with longtime underground type David Ouimet contributing samples for that particular
Foetus touch),
Foetus himself lives up to the proceedings. Starting with the virulent burn of "Free James Brown," which makes the similarly-minded song by
Big Audio Dynamite seem like an effete whine,
Male captures
Thirlwell in over-the-top insane-preacher, end-is-nigh mode. Matching the band both in total calamitous rage or slow, doomy jazz-noir crawl (and even a bit of country psych on the
Elton John-quoting "Puppet Dude"), he makes a perfect frontman for a trip through hell. His affinity for
Tom Waits' own raspy voiced delivery is clear, but
Foetus is his own man throughout, not a soundalike. The one-two punch of "Butterfly Potion" and "I'll Meet You in Poland, Baby," the latter's vicious conflation of romance and World War II extremely chilling, makes for a particular highlight. Two creative covers surface -- a vicious take on the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's obsessive glam classic "Faith Healer" and, reflecting a nicely open listening sensibility, a rumble through cult grunge band
Tad's "Behemoth."