drive like jehu - yank crime: classic or dud?

Yank Crime is easily one of the best albums of the '90s. I like some of the individual songs on their debut better, but as an overall work Yank Crime is damn near perfect. Eight years after it came out I'm still discovering new facets to its music.

I'm actually glad Reis picked Rocket From the Crypt over Drive Like Jehu--anything else Jehu produced would have been a let-down after Yank Crime...

(progmo.)

And, in true ILM style, who is right?

The first album is not better. the recording for one, is paper thin (and not just because of the colored vinyl, I have a black vinyl copy as well which is equally thin). A real tragedy due to the ferocity of the band's sound at the time. Secondly, the first album is not half as well-sequenced and as powerful and has not held up as well as Yank Crime. Yank Crime is much more subtle (despite the bombastic) and crafted.

Automatic Midnight is pure John music-wise, Rick played no guitar nor had any hand in the song-writing, thus not as good as Yank Crime (nor the debut).

Livewise, I saw Drive Like Jehu quite a bit at the Che, the Casbah, World Beat Center, the record release party at Lou's, saw them twice in one night in LA (opening for Pavement at the Palace, saw Pavement three times that day... kill me).

DLJ is far removed from emo (let's say fundamentalist emo). Definitely post-emo, definitely prog (at least as prog as Don Caballero or June of 44).

I think RFTC had were an excellent live/singles band for their first few years. I saw them live a couple times in the past 7 years and was not into it at all. I saw Hot Snakes and was very into it, in comparison.

Pitchfork: great single, hints at what was to come.

My copy is on black vinyl with enclosed lyric sheet, and it sounds way better (despite being somewhat warped) than the CD version with nothing on the inside but "CDs really fucking blow" on the disc. I heard the CD first (and lots) and the vinyl hardly sounds "thin" in comparison.

BTW, Pitchfork had a proper (albeit posthumous) album that was great... "Burn Pigs Burn", etc. I saw them with Fugazi at Gilman St. a couple of times, a brilliant band.

speedo pronounced it 'jayhoo', but i can't bring myself to say it any other way then 'jeh hoo'

yummy

The name comes, I think, from Jehu in the bible who was a really crazy carriage driver--drove all fast and the like.

I haven't even heard Yank Crime--it's pretty tough to find around here, and whenever I try to mail order it there's no luck. But the sound quality on my (black vinyl) copy of the first one isn't bad at all.

OH HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN :(

Well, yeah. But I think the actual phrase "Drive like Jehu" is said in Outrun and this is where the band got its name.

the lack of compression on the demo version sounds better to me.

yank crime + "bullet train to vegas"/"hand over fist" + "sinews"(demo)

also:
pitchfork eucalyptus + satan's outhouse EP

no dates yet...

the remaster is clean, they really brought rick's guitar up in the mix...

i think rick's guitar is too low on the original mix and lacked that "sparkly chime" that is the pride of all telecaster owners. I also think the rhythm section got kinda muddy in the original mix, compare minute 6 of "luau" for example: the bass and bassdrum are more jumpy and live sounding in the remaster.

"Production", gygax? I assumed you were named after Pitchblende rather than the inventor of Dungeons And Dragons.

maybe? @_@ it's one of my favorite records.

Rick slays in every line on the S/T - Yank Crime is overlong in every sense, and he's not as explosive with the deliveries. Obv. a matter of taste.

I totally disagree, "rome plows"/"new math" vox (esp. deliveries) are to my ears well beyond anything on the s/t.

Very similar to what Matador did to S&E - lots more low-end on the kick and tons more midrange. It's not like they're turning it into a Korn record, but my fondness for the muddier, truly-indie mid-90s sound is probably distorting my take on things. If they'd had access to better technology, etc.

I totally disagree, "rome plows"/"new math" vox (esp. deliveries) are to my ears well beyond anything on the s/t.

Bottom line: "Bullet Train To Vega$" is the best song released under the Jehu banner?

my favorite song is "new math"... this is subject to change though.

How about a huge Truman's water retrospective set?

is it from the of thick tum, soar..., or godspeed era?

The Peel sessions disc is essential though.. it contians three sessions.. One session with Glen, Kevin, Kirk, and Eli from 1993. Second one with Glen, Kevin, Kirk, Eli, and Mike from 1994. Then Kevin B., Kirk, and Kevin C. from late 1994. So I guess "Spasm Smash", post "Punchline", and "Milktrain" eras respectively I guess.

They all sound friggin' amazing.... I still see that disc occasionally go used for $3.. keep lookin'!

I'm sure the festival circuit means they are getting paid better but it does seem a little odd they are skipping a club tour to play to sub-100 people crowds (according to reports) at Coachella et al.

Fun fact: I have never really listened to this band! Which is weird cuz some people I'm close to would consider them to be a life-changer.

I don't hate them or anything, I've just never gotten around to them.

ha yeah, i'd say they might be slightly overrated by now (inevitable when you're a band lauded mostly on the merits of just one album). but they are definitely great. glad they are getting a payday via the festival circuit...

Impossible to overrate imo.

do u compute

amazing album

Hah hello global, nice to see you here (was wondering why this got bumped). This is one of my favorite records of all time and at least one ideal version of how two guitars playing together should work. I spent years chasing down more music that "sounded like Yank Crime" and there is no other music that hits the highs of this album in exactly this way (in my opinion). It truly is amazing and was an extremely formative discovery for me (as was seeing them live on that tour a week after buying the record).

This is actually an interesting story in a way, as I imagine that this type of thing doesn't happen to often for people under a certain age, or more to the point hasn't happened, due to the way music travels and gets discovered now. Essentially I was in a heavy phase of trying to fill gaps in my music knowledge as well as find new shit to listen to in 1993-94, and going to school in central Maine made that a bit challenging. One of the things I did to help was buy Option magazine, which no longer exists but at the time was an amazing resource as they published like 200 record reviews an issue (maybe an exaggeration, but it was a lot regardless). I had gone with some friends to live in Boulder, Colorado for the summer, and the recent issue of Option had a little blurb about "Yank Crime" that essentially said it was the best guitar album of the year. That was really all it took for me to go to the good record store in town and see if they had it. They did, so I bought it unheard and while I was leaving the dude working let me know that they were playing next week right up the street from me. So, I went home, got high, and immediately put the record on. The first track of course wastes no time on ripped the top of my head off. I wasn't sure what I was hearing, and honestly it was a version of sensory overload mixed with thrilled delight that I have not experience many times in my life. I had trouble taking it all in but I definitely remember feeling like I had walked into a new world or something (remember, I was high). But yeah, I just kept playing it over and over trying to make sense of it and absorb it all. I also determined that I better go see them live because I couldn't really fathom how they were gonna pull some of it off. But of course they did. One of the funnier aspects was that the music (to me) seemed so aggressive and over the top, and I had limited experience going to like hardcore/punk show, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I imagined that I was going to stick out and kinda be the obvious "square" there, but of course the audience was made up of like super-nerdy but cool heads. It was amazing and truly changed my life. The other bands on the bill were Superchunk and Polvo but unfortunately Polvo's van had some kind of issue and didn't make it. I still regret that to this day as I became a super-fan very shortly thereafter. Fuck I love "Yank Crime."

But yeah, that read about a record in a magazine and head to a record store to find it and get a tip about a show is all stuff that still happens I am sure, but there was no getting online to find out more or going to a torrent site or Youtube or whatever to get some samples of what they sound like. Also, I spent roughly 5 years asking anyone I met if they like Drive Like Jehu/Yank Crime, and did not find a one other than the few friends I was able to convert. Five years! Hard to believe now but things traveled differently then.

I couldn't really fathom how they got their jobs at underwriters lab

Along with Spiderland, one of the only "post-hardcore" albums that truly matters imo. A perfect 10.

I've still somehow never heard the s/t album

I like s/t better but then again I heard it first

i agree there are no albums that do exactly what yank crime does. i remember exactly where i was the first time i heard do you compute and i was like oh, yeah, this is what i want all guitar music to sound like.

It's all about "Luau" for me. Have we ever polled this album?

When I first heard DLJ it was a legitimate “HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE SOUND I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR” moment.

try not to overdo it but it's been three months, so

wonderful post davis!

super-nerdy but cool heads

these are my folks. and yeah the album got polled, luau won in a blowout

guess i'm gonna go cook dinner to this record

Glad you appreciated global, hope it was a good dinner. Sorry for all of the typos, wish I could go edit them.

This thread reboot got me thinking about this record a lot (which honestly I have done a TON in my life as it holds such a strange place within my personal history) but one thing occurred to me: this is like the 90s post-punk "Marquee Moon," and "Luau" is the equivalent of the title track. I need to have a talk with Mr. Wilcox, who suggested above (like 5 years ago hah hah) that maybe this record has become overrated. Not even close hah hah.

Funny you say that grandavis, as I have a theory that there is a very specific moment in Marquee Moon that sparked DLJ’s entire aesthetic. I can picture Speedo learning to play that song and deciding to write a whole song of his own that sounds like that one moment where Verlaine is pounding on the octave chords.

ehhh, I feel like there's some cringe-y critical projection ITT.

I feel like there are far more obvious sparks to DLJ's aesthetic that do not require a vast stretch of imagination. They're pretty open about their influences as well, it's not like they're mysterious about it.

like this b-side from 1988:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmwXFquMAEo

Cringe-y is a little strong I think

yeah, imagining connections is fun. i’m open to the television influence. the pitchfork record, i seem to remember, has more melodic elements to it and a verlaine / lloyd vibe isn’t far off.
obv they were influenced by their contemporary post hardcore peers too

love that honor role song, i know it well from homestead's 'human music' comp. never made the connection before though!

challop: the key to this album's excellence is Mark Trombino's cymbals. the ones he uses, where he uses them, where he doesn't, yeah man. they're special, and this album is about the cymbals, and if you listen 3,817 times you'll come to understand that as I have come to understand it.

the psychotic crescendo in Luau where Rick's ten-seconds-to-self-destruct alarm riff thing drilling into your brain gives way to John's bird-chirpy feedback splatterprint thing and both of those THINGS congeal just moments before the whole thing detonates, well yeah obviously that's all guitar, but don't let it distract you from the cymbalsmanship! there's world-class cymbalsmanship happening all the time on Yank Crime and I refuse to let it go unacknowledged.

Hah hah "some cringe-y critical projection ITT." A) I am no critic, I am a massive fan who doesn't care to get critical about this album or band as I can't find much to criticize and instead just tend to sit back and enjoy them and B) I mean I made a silly comparison between one long mega-jam by a two guitar band that I love to another long mega-jam by a two guitar band that I love. The second reference to Television () was simply to note that the hammering away at the ascending octave chords in "Marquee Moon" DOES remind one of a whole lot of 80s/90s post-punk, math-y bands that used octaves a lot (including Drive Like Jehu). Not a big deal, just yeah seems like "critical projection" is a bit much hah hah.

And yes, I know that they have cited Honor Role/Breadwinner and the guitar playing of Pen Rollings in particular as an influence. That is a very cool song and you can certainly hear how Froberg might have taken a cue or two from the singing for sure. This does not mean that it is not fun to make a "vast stretch of imagination" from time to time, no? Sheesh.

this is one of my favorite albums of all-time but it's always seemed pretty obvious to me that the major influences weren't so much gossipy new york junkie shit like Television so much as it was Die Kreuzen Cows and Beer, Battalion of Saints Second Coming, Saccharine Trust Paganicons, and Genesis We Can't Dance.

I used to play a game when I was much younger of listening to Led Zeppelin songs while trying to focus mainly on John Paul Jones's basslines. It was pretty magical. I will give this a shot with the cymbals! I actually love the first record too (though "Yank Crime" really took their thing to a new level and will always be my favorite) and I think Trombino's drums are a big part. There was a bit more diversity of approach on that record, and I think rhythmically it perhaps went more places. Like, "Future Home of Stucco Monstrosity" is such a cool song, but it would sound out of place on "Yank Crime" I think.

Hah hah yeah I mean it wouldn't surprise me if Reis didn't like Television at all. There was no real effort to suggest actual influence there. My comment was about how "Luau" sits in my personal history as like MY "Marquee Moon" (though I love that song as well). It was a statement of purpose that "Luau" is like my epic guitar jam of choice and for other 90s kids it may also hold a similar spot.

stuccomonstrosity was my soulseek username

Nice! Just listened to it again for the first time in quite a while. I love it.

me too, man. and as a native and current San Diegan, it's a big point of pride musically. right up there with Scream Dracula Scream and Automatic Midnight in my personal greatest albums of all-time list, except I'm left wondering why they all had to stick with the boring-ass black-and-white art scheme for their cover designs. I feel like I'm being discriminated against as a non-tattoo-having guy.

I think you will have to talk to Rick about the album art, as he did them all. I personally love his illustration style, and the cover of "Yank Crime" (and "Automatic Midnight" as well) are pretty iconic to me. I just love that humble little ink BOTTLE and spilled ink so much. And yeah, you should be proud San Diego had some sick shit going on at that time and of course to me this was the best of the best. I can't tell you how meaningful "Automatic Midnight" was for me, as I had waited for another Drive Like Jehu album in vain since 1994. I of course had no idea how they would top "Yank Crime" but sure as hell wanted to see them try. Of course instead it basically ended the band and maybe should have. Not sure they could have takeN those ideas much farther than they did.

I was so happy the first time I heard this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1oLv0hdtFU

Just hearing Rick's voice over a riff like that was a total joy.

Burrito, stereo separation of cymbals on "Luau" is pretty sick! And yeah, the hits are so well placed and artfully done. He is the one that became a chemist after the band I think, which makes sense to me hah hah.

I always forget how good "Sinews" is until I get to it on the album. I think in a way "Sinews" is the song that maybe could have suggested the direction the next album might have gone? Such a cool and patient build to it. I also love the space in it. Not many of there other songs have that concept of "space" in them.

"their"

I think in a way "Sinews" is the song that maybe could have suggested the direction the next album might have gone?

"Sinews" was the first song they ever wrote and recorded as DLJ. It predates their first album and was first released on a comp in 1991 and then re-recorded for Yank Crime.

"Sinews" as a path for exploration, not a temporal signifier as to where they were going. Obviously it holds little water as they stopped making music instead of exploring any of it. Thank you for continuing to take the most specific reading of any comment and jumping on it. Why do you think they revisited the song, re-recorded it, and placed it last on the album?

That question is one that might have a clear answer in an interview or something, but it is an honest one. It is kind of a curious choice considering what you mention about it (it being an older song and one they had release in another form). I mean it could simply be that they wanted another song for the record and weren't happy with the original recording of course.

His artwork for Cargo/Headhunter during the Pitchfork/DLJ years was fantastic imho, though I can see how people aren't into it.

https://i.imgur.com/EoREM4P.png
https://i.imgur.com/WeVS2wN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RS6dmwE.png
https://i.imgur.com/N6dM6o7.png
https://i.imgur.com/v0bTewb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8d7tXCs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/wdm7Eyo.jpg

I love Rick's art. I particular love that train one, thanks for posting these.

The old Hot Snakes website was dope. Original Rick art all over it.

Why do you think they revisited the song, re-recorded it, and placed it last on the album?

I have no idea, but both versions do serve as proper band-bookends... kinda like Slint with "Rhoda"?

Interesting point in re the book-ending, as well as the analogue to Slint. It has been way too long since I have listened to "Rhoda," I really love that second version.

I was only kidding about the cover art, of course I love it. All of Rick's. Around the time of the Obits when he had a heart scare, I emailed him to see about buying a painting, but never heard back.

I do distinctly remember hotsnakes.com though! What a treat it was to click there.

30 years old today, reminded of this nice touch that Rick hand drew the katakana for the Japanese obi:

https://i.imgur.com/QB5G4Og.jpeg

^Love that

christ this album is so good

see also ✒ Drive Like Jehu ✒Yank Crime ✒ 20ᴛʜ ANNIV POLL ✒