CERAMIC DOG

Your Turn

marcribot.com

Best known for working with two of the greatest lyricists and most distinctive vocalists of our time—Tom Waits and Elvis Costello—guitarist Marc Ribot doesn’t need to say a word. He sings plenty on this, the second album by his trio Ceramic Dog, and railing against Mother Nature (“Lies My Body Told Me”) and freeloading MP3 downloaders (“Masters of the Internet”), he’s got some interesting things to say. But his real skill is pushing bluesy rock down dark, unexplored alleyways. On instrumentals “Your Turn” and “Ritual Slaughter,” it’s like your local bar band just discovered Black Flag. “Prayer,” a mess of metal churn and post-punk static, is barely listenable and unlike anything else here. It’s the place to start, naturally.