Following
the demise of the Birthday Party in 1983, former members Nick Cave and Mick
Harvey teamed up with Blixa Bargeld, Barry Adamson and Jim Thirlwell to form
the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds adopted the post-punk aesthetic of
the Birthday Party, and further played with elements of blues, garage rock and
industrial music throughout their career. The Bad Seeds hinge upon Nick Cave’s
theatrical singing and literate lyrics, which are front and center in their
approach to music. The debut record From
Her to Eternity already showcases a dark and melancholy sound that the Bad
Seeds would thereafter develop and refine. The record contains two excellent
covers: the opener “Avalanche” features Cave singing Leonard Cohen’s classic in
a monstrously subdued manner, and “In the Ghetto” is a somber reproduction of
Elvis Presley’s original that calls Scott Walker to mind. Moreover, “From Her
to Eternity” is a grim love song infused with a considerable amount of noise
and distortion, while Cave’s visceral vocals and twisted lyrics in “Cabin
Fever!” render this song a sort of deranged sea shanty. “Saint Huck” departs
from the tale of Huckleberry Finn to yield a decadent story accompanied by
galloping guitars. I leave you with a live performance of “From Her to
Eternity” filmed by Wim Wenders for his movie Wings of Desire:
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