CD of the week
Dave Chislett
The album Surpass the Powers (Sony) is to the Springbok Nude Girls what the black album was to Metallica, what Sand Man Sky was to Sugardrive: a record that will inevitably alienate a large number of their existing fans and elicit cries of “Sell out! Sell out!” Predictable, but not entirely understandable when, objectively, this is the best Nude Girls album to date.
It was produced by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, better known for his work with The Black Crowes and Aerosmith, so of course the sound is smoother, less harsh. The ultimate irony is that this recording stands a far better chance of getting the Nude Girls the recognition their fans have always thought they deserve. As it stands, this is by far their most accessible work.
With Theo Crous’s guitar and Arno Blumer’s
bass held in check, the textural interplay betwen Arno Carstens’s voice, Adriaan Brandt’s keyboards and the guitars becomes more apparent. You can start to hear the thought behind the songs, instead of being bludgeoned with sound.
Track three is their most popular release to date, Blue Eyes, which saw the band attracting a whole new audience. But several live shows later, most of those converts will have realised that the band normally inhabits a domain far heavier and alternative than that incredibly poppy tune would seem to denote. It is interesting therefore to note the quiet songs lurking in the track listing. Un-Ez and Baseball make overt use of strings and atmospheric keys.
It has always been a part of the band’s plan to succeed. Their agenda has never been one of South African obscurity, thrashing out punk/metal-based rock for the appreciation of the hard core.
>From the driving opener, X, right through to the unexpectedly thrilling closer, Kill the World, this new album shows a band reaching beyond what they know into a new realm, surpassing the power in search of their own.