Gods and Monsters

Gods and Monsters is a long-running musical project fronted by visionary guitarist Gary Lucas, whose title comes from a bit of dialogue in the classic horror film Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Lucas, who began playing guitar at age nine, studied music at Yale and was musical director the college's student radio station, as well as performing in a student orchestra that gave Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" its first European performance (with Lucas as lead guitarist). Lucas first came to the attention of discerning rock fans as a guitarist with Captain Beefheart's late period Magic Band, contributing to the albums Doc at the Radar Station and Ice Cream for Crow (he also served as Beefheart's manager for a spell), and he would later contribute to albums by Matthew Sweet, Lori Carson, Graham Parker, and the Woodentops. Lucas began performing as a solo artist, developing a unique style in which he layered guitar patterns in real time using digital delays on-stage, and using these techniques he composed an acclaimed score for the classic German impressionist silent film Der Golem (1920). In 1989, Lucas formed the first version of his group Gods and Monsters, which featured bassists Jared Nickerson and Paul Now and drummer Tony "Thunder" Smith; initially intended as an instrumental group with a floating membership in the tradition of Material and the Golden Palominos, the group soon added a vocalist, Jeff Buckley, who also contributed lyrics for Lucas' melodies. While Buckley's rising star as a solo act led him to leave the group, he continued to collaborate with Lucas, who co-wrote two of the songs on Buckley's breakthrough album Grace. While a number of noted musicians would perform with Lucas in Gods and Monsters (among them Matthew Sweet, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Richard Barone, Keith LeBlanc, and Sonya Cohen), by the early years of the 21st century the group developed a more consistent lineup, featuring Ernie Brooks on bass and Billy Ficca or Jonathan Kane on drums. While Lucas released a solo album called Gods and Monsters in 1992, the first proper Gods and Monsters album appeared in 2006, entitled Coming Clean, which featured contributions from vocalist Sascha von Oertzen and former Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison; Harrison also helped mix the album, and became a regular part of the group's live lineup, as well as producing sessions for the group's next project. ~ Mark Deming