Truth in advertising:
the Brian Jonestown Massacre's sophomore album does, as promised, spring forth from
the Rolling Stones' long-underrated 1967 masterpiece
Their Satanic Majesties Request, copping not only
Mick and
Keith's leering bad-boy attitude but also their their rock-and-roll-circus spirit. Opening with the brilliant "All Around You (Intro)," a tongue-in-cheek guide to the mind-altering journey ahead, the record is a kaleidoscopic, drug-fueled freakout -- like
the Stones' namesake album,
Second Request is painted by Eastern drones and psychedelic tangents, each track bubbling with dozens of sound effects including sitars, mellotrons, farfisas, didgeridoos, tablas, congas, and glockenspiels. Travelling through the past, darkly, the Massacre arrives on the other side unscathed; their music is too rich to be merely retro, and too knowing to be merely slavish --
the Stones themselves haven't made a record this strong or entertaining in years.