The Saints
Imperious Delirium (Wildflower)
Reviewed by Greg Beets, Fri., May 11, 2007
The Saints
Imperious Delirium (Wildflower)
Reduced to a trio after the departure of Church guitarist Marty Willson-Piper, Chris Bailey's latest incarnation of the Saints falls bum first toward the raggedy rudiments on Imperious Delirium. Between its unsteady rhythms and slipshod production aesthetic, one can easily imagine this LP coming from a gaggle of novice upstarts rather than Australia's foremost punk pioneers, but that's not necessarily a bad way to uphold the legacy. There's a scrappy and endearing charm in Bailey's juxtaposition of ribald sentiments like "Drunk in Babylon" and "Je Fuckin' T'aime" with the efficiently phrased longing of "Other Side of the World." After slugging it out for 33 years through numerous stylistic reinventions, Bailey has maintained the sneer quotient of an angry 18-year-old. There's no Earth-shattering "(I'm) Stranded" moment here, but with a reunion of the original Saints scheduled this summer in Brisbane, perhaps the next missive will bring the devolution full circle.