Mute/Anti-

Forays into the elliptical and weird come pretty naturally to Nick Cave, so it wasn’t surprising to anyone when he picked up a guitar a few years ago and started Grinderman – a side project with fellow Bad Seeds band members Warren Ellis (guitars, violin, flute), Martyn Casey (bass) and Jim Sclavunos (drums). Comparisons to Cave’s legendary art-punk outfit The Birthday Party were soon bandied about, and while Grinderman certainly conjures the raw, free spirit of youth, there’s something heavier afoot here. Grinderman 2 reprises the first album’s incisive storytelling, in-session improv and jagged guitar wails, but with a refined sound that feels more like a continuation of the Bad Seeds’ 2008 album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! With a nod to the epic way that Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin used the studio as an instrument, longtime friend and producer Nick Launay brings out the layers of analog thickness in these nine songs, including the beautifully profane “Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man” and the psychedelic arena rock throwback “When My Baby Comes.”