Jason... The Dragon

Maybe it is the Steve Albini recording with all its warm cushiness or maybe it is the songwriting that this time around sounds more streamlined, but Jason…The Dragon is by far the smoothest sounding Weedeater record to date. Not that it would be a long stretch to achieve that, what with their rough and tumble ragged up and loose like a blind slut drunken sound of past, but on Jason…The Dragon the North Carolina trio does sound like a small bunch who just cleaned up their act. At least during the heavy numbers.

In others, like during the ambiguous intro “The Great Unfurling” and during the quiet twang (froggy vocals included) of “Palms of Opium” Weedeater sounds more preoccupied with making us laugh than with anything else. Whether that was the original intention, we do not know. And then there is closer “Whiskey Creek”, swamp at night sounds and all, that banjo playing is mildly retarded. Are these included to provide a break from such thick sludge? If so, it was not necessary. One inclusion would have been enough. Two was a stretch. But three out of ten makes us think that Weedeater are deserting the metallic realm or just offering us too little of what we wanted. And then there is “March of the Bipolar Bear” which is just drums. That’s that? Yes.

Which leaves us with six slow moving rockers. Pay attention to the title track. There are foreign sounds in the back, like the recording was purposely miked up so that it could capture all the errors. Strange indeed. One can only appreciate the skills of Albini once Weedeater get it on full mode and when Jason…The Dragon explodes it does so in fine form.

The title track is Weedeater at its finest. Vocally, Dave Dixie Collins sounds just as gruff and pissed as ever. It must be hard to vocalize with a throat that damaged. But more impressive is his bass playing, adding swift and deep groove lines these songs emit vibrations that will crack the glass in your house. The guitars are fucking fat, bursting at the seams. Dave Shepherd feels his playing, which is loose enough for him to take drinks between plucks. No solos allowed.

Maybe Albini is a dick who wouldn’t let the band record while in a drunken stupor. If so, this is the way to go. You need clarity to play like this. It’s a shame then that we get short changed. The six tracks were Weedeater go expletive are wonderful slices of minimal grooves, angered delivery and controlled distortion. The others are just a distraction. Jason..The Dragon could have been a great record.

Written for www.deafsparrow.com