FDF Volume 1: Issue 77: White Zombie - LA Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1

Album - LA Sexorcisto : Devil Music Vol. 1
Artist - White Zombie
Key Players - Ivan de Prume - drums, Sean Yseult - Bass, J. - Guitar, Rob Zombie - Vocals
Produced By - Andy Wallace

Release Date - March 17, 1992


What caused me to blow off the dust? - Honest truth on this. A co-worked had asked to borrow some
Stevie Wonder cds. I was re-filing them back into the collection when I saw this cd and said "its been a while".

Overview - This was the bands third album and first on a major label.
With the help of the MTV program Beavis and Butthead (and their approval) the band would garner more success and tour for this album for close to two years. It would pay off as the band would go multi platinum with this release.


FDF Comments (aka the songs) - After about one minute of a slow fade up the guitars crunch buzz in and the floor toms kick off "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag". The six plus minute rocker is laden with samples, all made part of the track. The guitars, bass and drums all "crunch" and do what they need to do on the track. A strong intro track, laying the ground work for what is about to come. The very short "Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A) is mearly a prelude of a radio being tuned that rolls to the big single "Thunder Kiss '65". The track, perhaps the one that introduced you to them, probably thanks to Beavis and Butthead on MTV. MTV had all but ignored the band until the cartoon boys professed love for the band. The YouTube clip is here. What the band may lack on a technical front they embrace their capabilities. The guitar and bass are even in the mix and the drums get a workout. The flashy rock solo at about two minute mark accented with the "Diggy diggy daaaaaaaaaawwww". The perfect song for a Camaro commercial and an even better song as a first single. The next track, "Black Sunshine", slowly builds up before the bass line rolls with the sounds of a motorcycle. The drums come in with a simple 4x4 back beat. The spoken portion that follows is from none on than Iggy Pop. There are the audio samples and it seems like Zombie is actually singing faster, if that is possible. The band doesn't seem to break stride though. Its a chugging machine. A solo guitar, working then with drums for an extended intro open up "Soul-Crusher". The band uses a little more "stop/start" conventions here. Its a good touch as the music is still "samey" but once the vocals arrive its slowed down some. The band even samples themselves it here as the latter part of the track sounds like Thunder Kiss. Opening with a sample from the Batman TV series "Cosmic Monsters Inc." grinds down. The intro on this track rips. Zombie has a great growl on the track and the band works a collective around the vocals. No one instrument is really give that much more than the others. If listening with headphones don't turn up "Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)" too loudly as you'll lose your ear drums about the 30 second mark. The thwap of the drums accent this track, they are hit particularly hard on this track. The song has some chanting near the end that all comes to an abrupt halt, almost having you feel the cd is over. The almost tranquil "I Am Legend" begins with light guitar work, which is a constant for about a minute and forty five seconds. Zombie howls and the band comes in. The swirling buzz saw guitars are here, nothing we haven't heard yet. "Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B)" is another sort of throw away track much like the first Knuckle Duster but it set up "Thrust!" for all that more of a rush. Another great example of the sound of White Zombie. It has the bands trademark sound, punch and urgency. "One Big Crunch" is just another sample track all of 21 seconds long. Rocketing back to form on "Grindhouse (A Go-Go)" the listener should be grinning ear to ear and tapping toes by this point. A terrific track buried on the cd. Bottle up the riffs on "Starface" and release them now and again when some knock off hack band decides to get metal on you. Every "good" stereotype sound is used here. The longest track on the album "Warp Asylum" closes out the record. Its a slow and sludgy song but it slowly builds to a familiar speed and sound.


Where are they now? - The band broke up in 1998. Sean Yseult has graphic design background and has been working with that (see links). She is currently a touring member of the band "The Cramps". J (real name Jay Noel Yuenger) is currently a producer. Ivan de Prume, who left the band early during the tour for this album and now has his own production company. Rob Zombie has gone on to release few solo albums that have sold more than the work he did in White Zombie. He is an artist, illustrator and also works in film. Rob Zombie has released three horror films, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects as well as a new version of Halloween in 2007. He is working on another film m The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, based on his own comic series. It is due in 2008. To cap that all off, Zombie is on tour currently with Ozzy Osbourne.

FDF Personal Comments (aka the Live experience) - Personally I have not see White Zombie, or Rob Zombie live. From a theatric standpoint its probably one heck of a show.

FDF Overall Take - This is not a challenging listen by any means, which is fine. The band delivered a strong major label debut and followed up with and even bigger record for them (and the company). The band never compromised on their sound, or image. For many, it might not be something you can listen to every day, but then again there are few things you can listen to every day. Some tracks just beg to be "turned up" and rocked out to.

Links
Rob Zombie official page
The designs from Sean Yseult
de Prumes production info here

***MP3's REMOVED JANUARY 11,2008***
Curious? Check out some MUSIC!
Thunder Kiss '65
Cosmice Monsters Inc.
Thrust!

A Live version of Thunder Kiss from Robs new live cd
here

Those three taken from La Sexorcisto which you can buy here The Rob Zombie Live Version is taken from the cd which you can get here

Just a heads up!
If you linked to this site, or were directed right to this post, check out the Main Page for this site and you can see and get the last few weeks worth of FDF mp3's.

Disclaimer - For the most part songs listed you can find on iTunes or your local cd shop. The idea is to give you a little taste of the music. Please support the artist buy purchasing some of their work. Songs are posted for about 1 week but can and will be removed at the request of the artist, band, band management etc. If you are one of those persons contact me via the email link in the profile and they will be removed as soon as we are made aware of the request.