There Is A Town

I don’t know any other Nick Cave fans, so I can’t ask around, but I suspect that people are split: those who are attracted to the chaotic energy of the early records, and the ones who prefer the statelier tempo of more recent times. The funereal tones of piano-based, ballad-heavy albums like Nocturama are an acquired taste, even less accessible in their way than the ear-splitting punk rock of The Birthday Party. The kind of self-punishing palate that responds to songs like these belongs to the same kind of person who savors the dry wine, peaty whiskey, IPA beer and Jeppsen’s Malort. In other words, it’s rewarding because it’s hard to enjoy and weeds out the weak.