The Tiger Lillies' profile on discogs describes them as "Cabaret band mixing chanson, opera, Gypsy music, rock, avant-garde, embellished with black humor, burlesque, sordid and macabre stories". And while that description is rather accurate, it's also very dry. The thing about this band is that they create their own (under)world, and are able to draw you inside with their performances. Their CDs (they have released around 50 of them in 30-odd years) sound more or less similar, though they differentiate in that every album has a main theme or is tied to a specific performance e.g. Freak Show, Madame Piaf, Lulu etc. Lemonaki is another such case: this time The Tiger Lillies draw their inspiration from Rebetika, songs of the Greek underworld of the 30's. The subject matter suits them well: doomed love, poverty, addiction, the lives and passions of junkies, pickpockets, prisoners, refugees and outcasts. Some songs are direct translations, while others are given the Tiger Lillies treatment. The music does not deviate from their familiar style, which is I think the album's weak point. Nobody would expect the band to go native, but a few Greek/oriental touches would go a long way. According to the notes, all but two songs (we'll get to them later) are written by Martyn Jacques - true enough regarding the music, less so in regards with the text. My girlfriend loves rebetiko music, and she immediately recognized some of the songs from the lyrics. We had fun trying to find out which old Greek song is referenced in each title, and I'm adding links to the original ones for the readers' education/entertainment. We miss two, and are fairly certain they do not correspond to any original rebetiko: "Boneyard" is a jaunty tune about death which reminds me of Tom Waits' "Cemetery Polka", while "Hell Is Empty" ("...and the devils are all here") is a direct Shakespearean quote, which is to be expected from a band that wrote their own musical adaptation of Hamlet, but less so by semi-literate Greek opium den dwellers of the previous century. Opener "Lemonaki" recounts the story of two pickpockets who get arrested on the job and beaten by the cops. The original song is more humorist, Jacques' version is more sympathetic towards the poor wretches. This is followed by a cover of the blues standard "St. James Infirmary" with nice shuffle drums and ukulele. Lyrically it kind of fits in well with the rest of the songs, even though it represents a culture half a world away - nothing new about that: the similarities between rebetika and blues have been pointed out countless times. I'm usually more drawn to the band's relatively upbeat songs with the gypsy accordion ("Boneyard" and "Ma They Knifed Me" are the best examples here), but on this album I'm very impressed by the way they deal with the slower songs: Jacques' voice emits a deep sadness, often resorting to the operatic style of his earlier records which he had largely abandoned lately. The effect is accentuated by the mournful musical saw and sparse piano. Some highlights in this style are "Prison Cell", "Send God A Letter", "Man On The Street", and "Street Lamp" - the latter featuring a baglama solo, the only instrumental nod to original rebetika I noticed. Note to musicologists: this is the Greek baglama, which looks like a miniature bouzouki, not the Turkish one which is a sort of long necked lute. According to lore, when fascist dictator Ioannis Metaxas outlawed their music, the rebetes switched from bouzouki to baglama because they could carry this instrument concealed under their coat. The only disappointment for me is "Cloudy Sunday", the original of which is very emotive with beautiful bouzouki arpeggios, while the Tiger Lillies version features discordant vocals and accordion. The penultimate track "Ever Since You Started" ("...smoking heroin") is a music hall number starting off slowly and getting progressively louder. Listening to it, I realized that, while all the junkie songs here were originally written in the first person, Jacques always changes them to the second or third person: he refuses to inhabit the persona of a junkie, and that's coming from a guy who has no qualms singing from the point of view of a murderer, pimp, or pedophile. Is it perhaps too close to home for comfort? The CD closes with a beautiful version of evergreen ballad "Over The Rainbow" acting as lyrical balm after the hardships recounted before. The album was recorded partly live at Fuzz club in Athens, and partly in studios in London and Berlin. The Fuzz performance took place on January 25, 2020 - probably the band's last before the pandemic hit. The CD, on the other hand, was their first physical release since the pandemic kicked off. Only 500 copies were made, of which the first 40 were signed by the band. Mine is signed by them, but it's not one of the original batch, I just bought it in Berlin after their performance of One Penny Opera, and had them sign it! Like almost all Tiger Lillies releases, this is a solid album in their unique style. Their decision to try to bring the Greek underworld of the 30's to life for the English-speaking audience is bold, surprising, and partly successful. If only they hadn't composed the music on auto-pilot, and had instead colored it with some shades reminiscent of the original songs, it would have worked so much better! Still, it's certainly a worthy purchase - if you can get your hands on it, seeing as it's already sold out!
**** for St. James Infirmary, Prison Cell (Nihtose Horis Feggari), Boneyard, Send God A Letter (Gramma Tha Steilo Sto Theo), Street Lamp (To Svisto Fanari), Somewhere Over The Rainbow
*** for Lemonaki (Kato sta Lemonadika), In Piraeus (Ston Peirea Synnefiase), Midnight (Mesanihta), Hell Is Empty, Ma They Knifed Me (Mana Me Maherosane), Man On The Street (Enas Diavatis), Ever Since You Started (O Ponos Tou Prezakia)
** for Cloudy Sunday (Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki), Jacket (To Sakaki), Junkie (A combination of O Prezakias and Eimai Prezakias)
