Janus Pan

Taken from "Beard of Lightening" 2003

"JANUS PAN
A RIGHTEOUS LIFE IS WAITING
A GENTLE HEART’S CONDITIONS
A PROGRAMMED TRIED
BUT COULDN’T LET GO
OF THE OLD MAN’S PLAN
TO WALK ALONE
HE SAID "YOU HAVE NO
ONE TO HOLD YOUR HAND
WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH
THE GATES OF JANUS PAN"

JANUS PAN WALKS ALONE
JANUS PAN WALKS ALONE
JANUS PAN WALKS ALONE"

A usual proggy jazz fuelled Phantom Tollbooth track with slightly disconcerting rhythms and melodies. Its a nice change from the usual Bob sound but I find it hard to get my head round the changing tempos and the "all over the place" guitar parts. I think I prefer these PT tracks in isolation. Listening to Beard of Lightening as a whole is too much like hard work.

Mascara Snakes

Taken from "Beard of Lightening" 2003

"THE CRITICAL STAGE IS RAINING DOWN
LOST EMOTIONS BEING FOUND
ORIGINS OF CROWED HOUSE
MAKE A SHORT LINE SHORTER

HIT PAUSE ON LOST
PRONOUNCING DEAD ON RED
GET THE FEEL ON ME
COPS ON THE NIGHT OF THE NO-SHOW

WEAK THE ATTACK
ON WHAT NEW MOVES
STRADDLE THE HOUR GLASS
WITH STRANGE LADIES

BUT THIS IS MINE AND I WILL TAKE IT BACK
CONCENTRATION ON MY FREE MAN’S BLUES
COME SEE THE OCEAN UP ON THE HIGHWAY
COME SEE THE STRONGMEN AND MASCARA SNAKES
THEY WANNA HIT YOU AND RELIEVE YOU
NO DOORS ARE OPENING OR CLOSE BY
THAT’S WHY I’M FOCUSING

I AM GOD’S BROTHER, HIS SOULMATE AND TEAMMATE
HE PASSES ME INFO-MATION
AND I RECIPROCATE"

Starts off with some fantastic riffing before changing pace to the more random jazz structure of Phantom Tollbooth noodlings. The format of the lyrics almost class against the structure of the music. This song has its moments and skips along at a fair old pace. Probably a highlights from one of my least favourite Pollard offshoot albums.

Gratification to Concrete

Taken from "Beard of Lightning" 2003

"GASOLINE ON MY COLD SKIN
AND NO LOVE WILL I SAVE FOR YOU
ABLE, RED AND SPARTACUS
I’M NOT HOME FOR A DAY
OFF WE CROSS THE FINISH LINE
WITH OUR BLACK SOAP HANDOUTS

WITH MATH & MOTIVATIONS
TO CALCULATE OUR SLOW DEMISE
ABLE HIS EYELIDS
IN A TEA LEAF JETSTREAM

WELL THE BLUES PHONE IS BLINKING
CALLING THE HISS
TO THE ONE WE CALL THE GOLDEN SKULL
THE OTHER BEARD OF LIGHTNING
AND THAT NEVER STOPPED SMILING
ALL THE WAY TO THE WOMAN HOUSE"

A rock jazz experiment from Bobs Phantom Tollbooth project. I must admit its not one of my favourite Bob albums and the songs on it range from almost good to axe-wankery and free form rock jazz, which Im not a bit fan of. It has its moments of melody and some good stop starty rhytms. This song reminds me of Tool meets Spinal Tap when they do their Jazz Odyssey that Derek Small wrote.