Zeno Beach
The more "seminal" and underappreciated a musician is at the time of their artistic apex, the more likely it is that decades later they will be repackaged and reissued and their name bandied about by the likes of Beck and Stephen Malkmus. It's a particular kind of visionary artist who never made much of a ripple in their heyday--such as Simply Saucer, Vashti Bunyan, and Robert Johnson--but achieved mythic status later. So it is with Australia's awesome and powerful, Stooges-worshipping, mid-'70s punk act Radio Birdman. Now with four of the original six members, what the group lacks in vigor it makes up for in a lack of the fascist imagery of both the early Birdman and its offshoot band New Race. Rob Younger's voice has never sounded better, though the tunes overall are a bit tepid and dirgey and the production a tad too clean. Then again, when the band asks "Are you ready today for us/Is it enough just to be satisfied?" the only possible answer is "Hell yes!"Zeno Beachis a must for fans, but might not mean a whole lot to anyone else.--Mike McGonigal