At one point or another in our lives, we’ve all known what it feels like to be possessed. By anger, by sex, by that elusive thing called “the moment.” And in the case of Sad & Dangerous, we see what it’s like to be possessed by the possessed -- in this case, an improvisational trio of guys hailing from the colony of criminals and armed with a distorted fiddle and one of the most effective rhythm sections in all of indie rock. Shit, did I just call Dirty Three “effective”? Let me correct myself with something more hyperbolic and appropriate. Urgent? Gorgeously aggressive? Anyway.
Music this immediate can’t be practiced, it simply demands to be played. It is “on the spot.” It is a spirit. It is a series of moods, strung together. And it is, in fact, very, very dirty. Gritty, covered in static, played by instruments that have been artfully damaged to sound less cookie-cutter, more unidentifiable-noise. The songs are imperfect. They go from completely frantic ("Short Break") to languid and meandering ("Kim’s Dirt"). At their best, they lull you in only to leave you pummeled by the hypnotic combination of beauty and violence ("Jim’s Dog"). They undoubtedly form a debut album -- a haphazard set of building blocks -- stacked fragilely, ready to knock and be knocked over; the forms not based on any precedent, and never to be repeated again.
If my words sound rushed or tacked together, there’s a reason. This isn’t thinking music, it’s feeling music. Any attempt to analyze songs like these is surely to leave someone in a conundrum. In fact, I find myself in a bit of one now. But just stating the “what is” of this case ignores the actual core of Sad and Dangerous -- that eerie feeling that you’ve become completely possessed by some uncontrollable force beyond yourself. If it feels a little scary, a little foreign, or a little overwhelming, if you feel a little uncomfortable or outside yourself, well then, I imagine it's done it’s job quite well.
1. Kim's Dirt
2. Killy Kundane
3. Jaguar
4. Devil in the Hole
5. Jim's Dog
6. Short Break
7. Turk Reprise
8. You Were a Bum Dream
9. Warren's Waltz
10. Turk
