Lydia Lunch
first attracted the attention of
punk
and
new wave
audiences in the late '70s, when she sang lead with the very underground
Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
(best known for their tortured 1979 single
"Baby Doll"
). Always one who liked her music dark and troubling,
Lunch
never appealed to mainstream
rock
tastes, but has enjoyed a small cult following. When she joined forces with guitarist
Rowland S. Howard
for 1991's
Shotgun Wedding
, it was clear that
hadn't adopted a more cheerful outlook. Songs like
"Endless Fall,"
"Black Juju"
"Burning Skulls"
are as morbid as they are captivating, and a superb remake of
Led Zeppelin
's
"In My Time of Dying"
fits right in. In
's hands, the
Zep
classic loses its bluesy
heavy metal
appeal and acquires an eerie
folk
/
gothic
quality. This
alternative rock
gem is one of
's greatest achievements. ~ Alex Henderson