Come "Near Life Experience" 1996***

I remember seeing Come at the Rodon Club around the time this album came out, acting as the backing band for Steve Wynn, one of my favourite indie/ paisley underground artists. It was a good show with the band replicating that classic Dream Syndicate sound (think Velvet Underground-meets-Crazy Horse - incidentally that whole concert is available for free download here - with the artist's permission). On the strength of their performance I decided to get their CD. It was the band's third and it had found them at a crossroads, as the rhythm section had just quit, leaving Zedek and Brokaw to record the album with a cast of guest musicians. They made the best out of it, enriching their sound and adding uncommon (for them) instruments like trumpet, violin and marimba. The album opens with the typically intense "Hurricane", sung by Thalia Zedek whose ragged voice sounds like a cross between early P.J.Harvey and Courtney Love. Grungy single "Secret Number" and trumpet-augmented "Bitten" are cut from the same cloth, while "Weak as the Moon" is less noisy, more VU-inspired. The drumming on this side is consistently good and I had to check who the guest drummer was (Mac McNeilly of the Jesus Lizard). Actually all the guest musicians here play well and, more importantly, blend in seamlessly with the band. Side 2 is considerably more laid-back and restrained, starting with the Brokaw-sung "Shoot Me First" which reminds of the indie Americana of the aforementioned Steve Wynn or the Walkabouts. The use of marimba in "Walk On's" gives it a Patti Smith-meets-Tom Waits air, "Half Life" is a more intense version of Calexico' s Western-movie sounds, and "Sloe-Eyed" proves that Come can also do wistful ballads. This CD was my introduction to the world of Come (I don't count the Wynn concert as they didn't play their own songs). Short (8songs/32 minutes) but satisfactorily varied, it ticked a lot of my boxes but didn't make me an instant fan. Recommended for those who like their indie rock a bit on the rough side.

**** for Hurricane, Weak as the Moon, Shoot Me First, Half Life

*** for Secret Number, Bitten, Walk On's, Sloe-Eyed