Review Summary: "My Bloody Underground" is a clear response to the famous documentary "DIG" and a way for Anton Newcombe to make sure he won't find his music on the radios or TV.
In the wake of "DIG"'s success, Anton A. Newcombe felt he might have himself a spot on the mainstream and to fit his mad genius attitude he hid in his Iceland lair, barely releasing an EP in 5 years. After many years of backstabbing the mainstream (see DIG fight scene), he would be seen as a hypocrite if he accepted his new found fame. So, he went back to his shoegazing drone sound found on "Methodrone" adding some serious drug fueled psychedelia, making sure he won't find his music on the radio. "My Bloody Underground" can be an annoying listen, but the album holds some of his most infectious songs of his career.
Musically, the length of the songs might kill some of the fun, with the 8-minute spacey drone "Who Cares Why", where Anton babbles whatever came to his mind at that time I guess. For a sober listener, it might be too hard to focus on the song for that long. Also, the dark ambient closer "Black Hole Symphony" has the same vacuum-like sound going for 5 minutes, then it gets louder for 2 and returns for another round of 3 minutes.
On a brighter side, there are some songs that really work on this album. "Golden Frost" is the rocker drone, with Jon Saemundur on vocals, he would work with Anton on his next album, adding more to Anton's insanity. It has this haunting wind-like synth that covers the song, over a simple, straight forward riff. Other highlights include "Just Like Kicking Jesus" which may seem really odd at a first listen, but all those layers of echoed/reverbed noise sounds grow on you, and also make this track one of the more complex songs BJM made. "Dark Wave Driver" is a catchy one-riff instrumental, which sounds a bit like their earlier stuff. At the same time, it is an easier listen because it's stripped of most of the screams and noise layers that many of the songs have. Also, "Monkey Powder" and "Auto-Matic-Faggot For The People" are really interesting, the latter sounding like a bad acid trip with echoed screams and an overall darker vibe.
There are some throwbacks to their usual BJM sound here, "Dropping Bombs On The White House" and "Yeah Yeah". The former sounds lazy, and goes nowhere for 6 minutes and a half, while "Yeah" is a much shorter, better song.
Lyrically, Anton put his music in front on this record and when he's singing, his voice struggles to keep up with the music, especially on "Yeah Yeah", "Dropping Bombs..." and "Who Cares Why", probably because of the industrial amount of alcohol he's been drinking for a long time & drug use. Adding to his controversial persona and to his new found fame, he chose to give the songs offensive yet fun titles "Bring Me The Head Of Paul McCartney on Heather Mill's Wooden Peg (Dropping Bombs On The White House), "We Are The ******s Of The World", "Auto-Matic-Faggot For The People" or "Just Like Kicking Jesus".
Many people will dismiss this album as pure *** compared to his earlier, more acclaimed work. But this album sounds like nothing Anton & Co. have ever done before. This is a moody album, not a casual listen, a clear response to the documentary and given a spin at a right moment, it sounds a lot better. Also, the video each track has helps the songs (especially "Monkey Powder", "Golden Frost" and "Infinite Wisdom Tooth") and showcase Anton's madness & drug use.
Highlights - "Golden Frost", "Just Like Kicking Jesus", "Yeah Yeah", "Dark Wave Rider/Big Drill Car"
