Posted on: February 19, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Steve Lieberman – Shake The Missile Base / 2007 Self / 22 Tracks / http://www.gangstarabbi.com /

Despite the fact that I already know most of the ongs that Lieberman puts on eir “cover” albums, I rather prefer the albums that have a large amount of unique material on them. This gives me more of a sense of what Lieberman wants to do with music, rather than having eir constrained by the framework of a song influential to eir. The 22 tracks on this disc seem to have a more political edge to them, whether it be “Love@Defcon 5”, “Gimme Desert Fever”, “Commando Commando”, or “ld50/Private Suicide”.

“Public Suicide” is one of the strongest opening to any Lieberman album that I’ve had the opportunity to review. Despite the fact that flute has a fairly focal position on the track, the instrumentation meshes well together and creates a track that is very influenced by late seventies punk rock. Hell, Lieberman has created the best track that I’ve ever come forth from the “Gangsta Rabbi”. This track, “A Girl For Everyone But Me”, has a bouncing beat to it that has never been heard during  a previous Lieberman song. While there still is a high amount of distortion during this track, there is almost a pirate-type of shanty style present that will keep individuals listening in to the next 17 tracks. Lieberman continues this grove with eir cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Radio Nowhere”. The more mellow aspect of Lieberman is something that I can definitely get behind.

This is due to the fact there is still a good clip to things, but the distortion opens up a little bit and allows listeners to hear what each constituent instrument is trying to do. The percussion is another strength during Lieberman’s cover of “Radio Nowhere”, which adds a little bit of a tribal sound to things. Overall, Lieberman gets into the zone for these two tracks. “I Masturbate” continues with the same strong suit, despite the fact that the vocals are a little on the sharp side during this track. “Gimme Desert Fever”, quite a few tracks removed from the previous three tracks, still is head and shoulders above prior Lieberman works. Artists, especially those that are as voluminous as Lieberman, typically fall into ruts. However, Lieberman has increased the quality of the tracks on “Shake The Missile Base” while still keeping the nucleus of eir own unique sound. Check Lieberman out; ey may just be able to further clarify and expand on eir sound.

Top Tracks: Lovesick Again, The Bad Touch

Rating: 6.8/10

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