Home > Washington D.C. Music > CD Review > Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'

Backstory: Former choirboy Nick Cave first gained attention as the frenzied frontman of Australian post-punkers the Birthday Party. In 1984, he formed the Bad Seeds; “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” is their fourteenth studio album. Last year, Cave grabbed a guitar and stepped out with an atypically raw side project, Grinderman. Their critically acclaimed debut was mostly about getting it on—or going mad trying to.
 
Why you should care: At this point, Cave is close to living legend status. But, even at 50, he’s rather remarkably showing no signs of going softly into the night. Instead, the last few years seem likely to rank among the most vital in his career.

Verdict: After his enjoyably libidinous detour with Grinderman, Cave returns to his “usual” self on “Lazarus,” committing his swaggering baritone to mythically and biblically inspired narratives. Some echoes of Grinderman remain in raucous, raunchy rockers like “Today’s Lesson,” but the Bad Seeds’ broader range also leads to aching ballads (“Jesus of the Moon”) and atmospheric slow-burners (“Moonland,” “Hold On to Yourself”).  Cave has gravitas to spare—but he also has underrated comic timing, as when he bellows “Bukowski was a jerk!” on the rumbling “We Call Upon the Author,” one of the album’s peaks.

X-Factor: That’s Dr. Cave and the Bad Seeds to you. In celebration of his still-strengthening catalog, the one-time college dropout was just awarded an honorary doctorate of law (law?!) at Melbourne’s internationally esteemed Monash University.