As its title implies, Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? is a tribute of sorts to the bygone psychedelic era. Where the actual Beatles album was an expression of peace, hope and love at a time of expanded drug-induced consciousness and studio technology, the Massacre’s collection shows up 43 years later with all the years of Flaming Lips, Spacemen 3/Spiritualized, Ride, Mercury Rev and Neutral Milk Hotel albums to help redefine the territory. This Pepper is more like an answer record to the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties’ Request than anything from the Fab Four. Singer and leader Anton Newcombe usually hosts a boisterous party, but here he lurks in the background, often turning the lead vocals over to others and cheerleading from behind the soundboard. The tribal, trance-inducing textures of “Tunger Hnifur” and “Let’s Go F***ing Mental,” the Public Image Limited “Albatross” beats of “This Is the First of Your Last Warning (Icelandic)” and the Joy Division-derived “This Is the One Thing We Did Not Want to Have Happen” make BJM more like classic rockers who have rewritten the rules upside down. Fun for all.
- 1995
- 2014
- Wooden Shjips
- Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe
- The Dandy Warhols
- Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe