Crib Notes

Crippled Black Phoenix is the brainchild of frontman Justin Greaves (Electric Wizard / Iron Monkey / Teeth Of Lions Rule Devine).

The group’s latest offering, 200 Tons of Bad Luck is a collection of songs that were crafted at Geoff Barrow of Portishead’s studio, and released via Barrow’s Invada Records imprint. The band for this go-around is made up of Joe Volk, Dominic Aitchison (Mogwai), Kostas Panagiotou (Pantheist) & Charlotte Nicholls. Joining the group on all live dates will be Joe Allen and John Langley of Saturation Point.

Chad Radford:  Tell me about the line-up that you’re bringing with you on the road for this tour.
Justin Greaves:  Well, we have the usual line-up we take on tour. It’ll be consisting of guitars, bass, cello, drums, moog/synths etc, we got a couple of new players for this one also, Mark Ophidian and Baz Barrett, Baz just jumped on at the last minute so the tour has been one long rehearsal for him! Amazing really.

Can you tell me about some of the ideas that went into 200 Tons of Bad Luck? I don’t think of it as a concept album per say, but are some recurring, though vague themes, as well as some very evocative imagery running through the record.
That’s right, it’s not a concept album in the usual way, but the themes run throughout and there’s very definite reasons why the songs are on there, but the 200 Tons album is a compilation of songs from the two (2) full albums, it’s a record business compromise and it just don’t make sense to me. To get the full effect I think people need to hear The Resurrecionists & Night Raider albums. It may take some patience but the effect will be worth it. So, all the imagery will make so much more sense too, there’s things that are quite subliminal and some things that are blatantly obvious, it’s really up to the listener to take what they will from the prompts.

“Rise Up and Fight” mp3

Crippled Black Phoenix and Ascent Everest play 529 tonight (Sat., April 18). $8. 9 p.m.

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Like everyone else in the mid-’90s, I loved Portishead. I adored Dummy, its classic 1994 album. Although it took me a few tries, I learned to love its difficult and astringent 1997 self-titled follow-up. I bought both editions of Andy Smith’s The Document. (Andy Smith was the tour DJ for Portishead.) And when the reclusive Beth Gibbons put out her solo album with Rustin Man, Out of Season, I not only bought the 2002 vinyl import, but the 2003 U.S. edition on CD. (Actually, a publicist sent me the CD.)

So it’s safe to say I’m a Portishead fan. The impending arrival of its new album, Third, however, just worries me. What if it sucks? I mean, 10 years is a long time — what if Portishead has fallen off? Worse, what if it’s the equivalent of a reunion album — Portishead rehashing the highlights of its “Sour Times” glory years? I guess it could turn out to be great. But honestly, what’s the likelihood of that?

We’ll find out for sure when Portishead’s Third comes out April 29.

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