RIP Grinderman

Grinderman vs. Factory Floor:
«Evil (The Michael Cliffe house remix)» [mp3]

Apparently, Nick Cave has just announced the dissolution of Grinderman. Which, seeing as Grinderman is half of the Bad Seeds, probably means he's taking his delightfully posturing noise manglers back to the mother ship of composed Bad Seeds balladry. More stately, high brow splendour to follow, I'm sure.

And though the Bad Seeds almost never disappoint, it's a pity, as Grinderman has given us some of the most sonically exhilarating tunes in Cave's daunting oeuvre, and lyrics far superior to those love songs that smack of trying to impress models and years' worth of well-written, yet corny murder ballads. (What would Nick Cave know about murder, and what's so romantic and poignant about tragic brutality, anyway?) As for Grinderman, are there any better lines in all of rock 'n' roll than:

Well, my baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster
Two great big humps and then I'm gone

Or:

I sent her every type of flower
I played the guitar by the hour
I petted her revolting little chihuahua
But still she just didn't want to

Then there's:

We're sick and tired
of all this self serving grieving
All we wanted was a little consensual rape in the morning
and maybe a bit more in the evening

Oh, and:

Your skin is like the falling snow
Your hair is like the rising sun
Your tongue is like a Kalashnikov
Or some other foreign gun

Not to forget «Palaces of Montezuma» in its entirety, heroin reverie and all. (Sample lyric: «The spinal cord of JFK / wrapped in Marilyn Monroe's négligée / I give to you.» Certainly beats «I don’t believe in an interventionist God / but I know, darling, that you do / But if I did I would kneel down and ask him / not to intervene when it came to you». Or: «Your face has fallen sad now / for you know the time is nigh / when I must remove your wings / and you, you must try to fly». Ah, that «Ship Song»… I hope at least he got a blowjob on the back of it.)

Also, no group has done as much for facial hair as this exceptionally bearded and moustachioed gang of middle aged delinquents. (For men's fashion, that is—Le Tigre has fought that battle better for women).

As for the music, judge for yerself:

Grinderman, you shall be missed! And as we all grieve, ever so self-servingly, enjoy one of the few Grinderman rarities out there, a B-side to limited edition, vinyl-only single «Evil», remixed by Factory Floor.