The (International) Noise Conspiracy
The Cross Of My Calling
Rating: 1.5
Label: Vagrant Records
In response to the spineless politics of the last eight years, The (International) Noise Conspiracy have created an equally spineless record. Produced by Rick Rubin and recorded in the studio where The Doors tracked most of their catalog, The (I)NC seemed to be surrounded by greatness, yet The Cross Of My Calling never aims any higher than beating the dead horse that is George Bush’s disastrous presidency. The album has no direction other than complaints eight years too late, and with songs like “Hiroshima Mon Amour” and “Storm the Gates of Beverly Hills” it’s obvious The (I)NC don’t really have anything to say.
But let’s not be too short-sighted. It’s not just that The Cross Of My Calling is tapping an empty well. The songs themselves would be great if The (I)NC were a high school band preparing for their first show, but this is a band that has been together for 10 years. Once again “Storm the Gates of Beverly Hills” comes to mind, but it is the second song “Assassination of Myself” that shows just how far this band hasn’t come. The lyrics mourn the loss of masculinity while the track ironically has no balls. The bright bouncy guitars and the inanely poppy chorus makes for a better high school girls on spring break anthem than a call to arms for men to go out and pioneer a frontier.
This is an album where you really have to listen for the breaks between songs. With little variation in instrumentation, no deviation in guitar tones or overall mix and a uniform tempo straight through the 14 tracks, it does not take long before everything on The Cross Of My Calling starts to blend together. An occasional Doors-esque organ breaks up the monotony but that more or less just reminds you that you’re listening to music.
It’s not bad enough that the nameThe Cross Of My Calling sounds like the title of any Christian rock album; the album has less political bite than the Lilith Fair. If you’re looking for the poignancy of Bob Dylan or Rage Against The Machine you should probably stick to Blood on the Tracks and Evil Empire because the only outrage this album could possibly inspire would come from realizing you spent money on it.
by Brian Loeper
