Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

Last Wednesday I turned 35. My folks were over from Ireland, I took the day off and the sun shone. All was good. A passing remark from one of my colleagues sent one wheel wobbling. ‘G, you’ve had your heyday. You know what it’s like’. I had the misfortune to walk passed my parents watching ‘Grumpy Old Women’. ‘There’s nothing worse than a middle aged man who thinks he’s still cool’. Double wobble.

My salvation came in the unlikely form of Nick Cave. Nick ‘ her hair was as black as the night’ Cave. A sign that I’m truly growing older? Yes. But also a sign that it’s okay. Good ole laughing Nick is 50. Dig!!!, his 14th long player with the Bad Seeds. And not one wobble in sight.

Dig!!! is a triumph. It is dripping with characters and humour, Lazarus is advised to dig himself back into his hole on the opening track. Dig!!! is a looser album than previous outings, and I’m thankful of that. I found Cave’s macabre a little saturating previously, but Dig!!! moves with purpose. You find yourself at the closing track easily, without distraction. Although I haven’t gotten round to posting the top ten of 2007 yet, Dig!!! will surely find itself in the top ten of 2008.

THINK: Cave, like Waits and Dillon, gets better with age
WATCH: Viral movies for Dig!!!
READ: And the ass saw the angel
BUY: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!  at amazon