14 -- The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 11, 1998
The Jesus Lizard brings its 'punk assault' to A2 Moody

By Colin Bartos
Daily Arts Writer
Oh, it was a good night in Ann
Arbor. The Blind Pig, usually home
to inane local bands and the occa-
sional indie-rock snob, didn't know
what hit it. How could a club that
holds 400 people ever be ready for
the mayhem of a Jesus Lizard show?
Bassist David Wm. Sims, the dri-
ving force behind the band, stood
stoically throughout almost the
entire set, providing a contrast to
Yow's outlandish dashing about.
Guitarist Duane Denison and drum-
mer Jim Kimball played competent-
ly, taking the middle ground some-
where between Sims and Yow.
After "Puss," the Lizard went
straight into "I Can Learn," the first
track off its new album "Blue,"
which hit stores May 5. The crowd
took to the new tracks, although you
could tell they were waiting for the
classics. With six albums and numer-
ous other releases, the Jesus Lizard
had plenty to choose from. The set
list included the disturbing
"Thumbscrews," dedicated to "all
the landlords in the audience," the
intoxicating "Gladiator" from 1992's
"Liar," as well as 1990's horrific
"Bloody Mary." The Jesus Lizard
also played "Fly On The Wall" from

1994's "Down," and new tracks like
"Horse Doctor Man" and "Until It
Stopped To Die."
The show began at about 10:30,
when Stanford Prison Experiment -
"probably the best band to ever come
out of Los Angeles," according to
Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow -
took the stage quietly. Not an
extremely menacing band at first
glance, SPE immediately floored the
audience with its hardcore assault.
From the first
chord of
from its 1995
sophomore TheJesus
effort "The Lizard
Gato Hunch,"
the band was on Blind Pig
point, together Ttursday May 7
and firing at
will.
Vocalist
Mario Jimenez,
extremely soft-
spoken off-
stage, turns into
a maniacal fig-
ure in the spotlight, spouting his
socio-politically conscious lyrics as
he twists, turns, and contorts his
body to the driving rhythms of the
band. Jimenez had a little trouble

a mwn

'7
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