Tank full of Oil

Qui - Love's Miracle [2007]

Genre: Noise, Experimental
Style: Noise, Experimental, Blues, Garage, Jazz, Punk
Label: Ipecac

Ever since underground heroes The Jesus Lizard called it quits a few years back, there’s been a big gaping hole in the indie rock landscape. The Lizard’s legendary brand of freakout was pretty one-of-a-kind, and even though their influence can be felt in a wide array of modern post-whatever bands, they lack two key elements: the wildly inventive guitar playing of Duane Denison and the singular out-of-control weirdness of infamous frontman David Yow. While Denison has resurfaced in Mike Patton’s genre-spanning Tomahawk outfit, Yow has been pretty much MIA since the Lizard’s last major-label effort. But somehow, the L.A. experimental punk/metal duo Qui was able to snag Yow to join the group last year. If you’re gonna take your band to the next level, recruiting David Yow to sing for you is about as giant a leap as you can take. Qui’s debut album for Ipecac, hilariously titled Love’s Miracle, proves that even at 46 years old, Yow is still as fucking out-there as ever, and his presence pushes Qui to create some delightfully strange and ass-kicking rock and roll. Love’s Miracle will undoubtedly draw a lot of comparisons to The Jesus Lizard, and although there’s certainly an element of that in Qui’s sound, there’s a lot more going on here. Qui have a pretty strong and refreshing blues-rock undercurrent running through most of the material here, as well as a propensity for tricky rhythmic structures and a knack for slipping awesome off-kilter melodies in and around the dissonant shrieks and atonal scratches. The result is at once complex as well as immediate and catchy, a rock stew that swipes ingredients from every decade and subgenre. Pretty tasty stuff. Then you toss David Yow in the pot and things get freaky. In a good way. Yow is in top form here, spreading a thick layer of magnificent insanity all over Qui’s aural assault. Since Qui only have one guitar and drums to power it, Yow can’t hide behind the wall of noise like he did in The Jesus Lizard, so he gets pushed right up front, and it works. You get to hear Yow’s come-ons and horror stories in all their disturbing and hilarious glory. This results in brilliant, nasty concoctions like “Gash,” where Yow alternates between a demented holler and a terrifying Gollum-like sneer while Qui build a mathy maelstrom of sound behind him. But the biggest surprise of all is that Yow actually has a pretty great singing voice and he puts it to good use on more than a few tracks, including a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” complete with dead-on harmonies… who knew? The pairing of Yow with Qui is a terrific match and it more than makes up for The Jesus Lizard’s all-too-noticeable absence over the past decade. Fans of the Lizard absolutely need to get this shit, but I’d recommend it to adventurous fans of any genre: hard rock, punk, metal, noise/experimental, whatever. Weird, dirty, and awesome, the kind of record they just don’t make these days, Love’s Miracle is a blast.

[Video]
QUI-(david yow from jesus lizard)-live in rome

[Tracklist:]
1. Apartment
2. Today, Gestation
3. Gash
4. Freeze
5. New Orleans
6. A #1
7. Willie The Pimp
8. Belt
9. Echoes (Pink Floyd cover)

Qui - Love's Miracle
[Download]