Gary Lucas – Evangeline

In the liner notes to Evangeline, Gary Lucas says, “I just want to give you an orgasm with the guitar.” A bold mission, but one that Lucas almost manages to carry out over the album’s 15 tracks.

Lucas was the guitarist for Captain Beefheart before an ongoing career that has encompassed both solo albums and a full group project, Gods & Monsters. On Evangeline, Lucas hints at punk, flirts with folk, and bulldozes through bluegrass, country, blues, and more.

It’s possible to over-intellectualize this kind of stuff, and if you peruse the liner notes, you’ll find credits to Wagner (“Overture to ‘Tannhauser'”) and a pair of Asian composers, Bal Kwong (“The Wall”) and Chow Hsuan (“The Songstress On The Edge Of Heaven”). There’s also “low” culture here, including a feverish National Steel version of Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues” (recorded at New York’s Knitting Factory club) and the theme from Cool Hand Luke. Lucas does attempt some vocals, most notably on “Apismatisin”, a crisp meditation on religion, and the title track, which stylistically hints at the Beefheart lurking within Lucas still. “Sail Up” is the most delightful number, sounding like an old, eerily joyful campfire song.

Lucas plays every dexterous note here, and when he exploits the far reaches of the acoustic slide, as on the borderline psychedelic “Ah Feel Like Syd”, it should make even accomplished players cower in fear and awe. Even more impressive is the breakneck-paced “The Animal Flesh Comes Creeping Back”–which also has a live reprise later in the album, tagged a “(Slight Return)”, showing off the way Lucas’ performances effortlessly extrapolate from a theme. Even on the standard “Wedding March”, he can’t resist toying with the familiar tune, wringing it out into a surprising finale.