October 27, 2000
La Peste
This deeply pointless, if hilarious, second album should guarantee them a tough time in any backwoods town south of the Mason-Dixon line.
The Mississippi three were
US East Coast activists slaughtered by the Ku Klux Klan at the height of the civil rights struggles. Alabama 3 are a ragtag association of politicised Brixton-based oddbods who have made a career out of parodying of what deep south rednecks hold most dear: the church and country music. And this deeply pointless, if hilarious, second album should guarantee them a tough time in any backwoods town south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Larry Love, D Wayne Love, The Mountain Of Love, Sir 'Real' Love and their helpers mistake sarcastic fake sincerity for emotional comment. With an electronic sound that varies from country pastiche ('Too Sick To Pray') to out-and-out techno ('Cocaine [Killed My Community]'), a lot of effort has been put in just to rant about the erosion of European culture by US cultural and economic supremacy. Why not write
a book? And what's the rationale
behind the mirthful desecration of
The Eagles' 'Hotel California', itself
a mockery of a lifestyle?
When pathos creeps into 'The Thrills Have Gone' and when righteous rage turns 'Mansion On The Hill' (not the Neil Young song) into a thing of beauty, Alabama 3 make some kind of sense. But what we witness here is an almost monumental waste of time.
Dele Fadele
5
NEW! For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our brand new sister site, NME Video.
Comments do not always reflect the views of NME, or IPC Media, for guidelines visit our Ts & Cs page