13 Above the Night Review

The perfect soundtrack to a pill-crazed romp through L.A.'s dirtiest and lowest whorehouses, 13 Above the Night is a record as much about style as substance. But, then again, that's all that it really aspires to be. Reveling in dark sexuality, drug use, and the occult, it conjures up the spirit of the lost of America's cities remarkably. Celebrating the surface level as it does, it is difficult to listen to this record with anything close to a critical ear. It is a loud, unsubtle album that is nevertheless danceable and seductive. The production team of Buzz McCoy and Groovie Mann pair percolating synth grooves and techno rhythms with buzzing guitars and almost R&B-style female background singers. Heavily-processed lead vocals slither in and out of the tracks, emerging to spit venomous and cryptic lines such as "killed his taste in switchblades" (from "Delicate Terror"). Creepy vocal samples play a prominent role in My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult's music, in much the same way that they are used by White Zombie. The entire album holds together quite well, with each track having compelling moments. Fellow traveler Lydia Lunch shows up for the swinging "Dirty Little Secrets," which provides perhaps the greatest view into the Thrill Kill Kult world-view, with its seductive vocals that are less the come-on of a woman to her beloved than the desperate plea of a washed-up porn star turning tricks for heroin money. A depressing record, to be sure, but interesting on its own merits. It's not a bad place to visit, but you sure as hell wouldn't want to live there.