Tav Falco is a curious one. He is a proud son of Memphis Tennessee (Elvis' town) but has been living in Europe for more than 20 years. He formed his band, The Panther Burns, in 1979 together with veterans Alex Chilton and Jim Dickinson and has been leading that band (with an ever-changing line-up) all these years, but he's not content with just being a musician: He's also a cinematographer, performer artist, actor, tango dancer and writer. I used to think of Panther Burns as a psychobilly group (maybe because of their close connection to The Cramps). On the basis of this album, that's an obvious oversimplification. "Gentleman in Black" is psychobilly but he also plays jazz, tango and psychedelia. "Ballad of the Rue de la Lane" is jangly psych-folk (Is it just me or does it really sound like Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue"?). "Sympathy for Mata Hari" reminds me of Billy Childish's lo-fi garage blues. Two tango numbers "Tango Fatale" and "Secret Rendezvous" combine beautifully the bandoneon with stinging rockabilly guitar licks. "Chamber of Desire" and "Garden of the Medici" are neo-psychedelic ballads with some nice harpsichord flourishes. The latter kinda reminds me of The Fuzztones while "Conjuration of Masques" sounds more like Calexico. This is an ambitious record by The Panther Burns. They display their competence at various genres, the production is rich, arrangements well thought of, sound is clean and crispy. Not what you'd expect from such an "underground" artist. I wanted to like this record but unfortunately I can't warm up to Falco's voice. He still seems an interesting character though, and I'll be sure to check him out live if I get the chance.
**** for Ballad of the Rue de la Lane, Gentleman in Black
*** for Tango Fatale, Secret Rendezvous, Garden of the Medici, Conjuration of Masques
** for Sympathy for Mata Hari, Chamber of Desire, Administrator Blues, Budapest, Lady from Shanghai, Phantôme Demoiselle
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