1990 CMJ Review Foetus: Sink

FOETUS INC: SINK

Always spitting back in the face of the world that frustrates him, Jim Thirwell has obviously been watching late-night TV ad spots and purchased a guide to entrepreneurial success; he’s slapped on a new coat of paint and created a sci-fi condo from the rentals of his lengthy career. Rather than cover other people’s music for the retro cash-in, he endorses only himself, borrowing and remixing the many styles of music in the Foetus catalog. A composer, performer and producer extraordinaire, Mr. Thirwell chose the track listing himself for this double LP collection-previously released and unreleased material-and offers with Sink a musical slide show of the developing Foetus over the last five stages. Each side explores a particular emotion, from bawdy cabaret swing (“Bedrock”) to monkish serenity (“Lilith”), industrial form (“OKFM”) and techno (“Catastrophe Crunch”). This project provides a superb new sequence of the many faces of Foetus without sounding stylistically disjointed; for the uninitiated as well as longtime fans, this is a definitive “best of” collection from the source himself. Look for a Blue Oyster Cult tribute tune with Lydia Lunch and his alter ego, Clint Ruin, to surface soon.

CMJ New Music Report, Issue# 201 (03 Aug 1990), author unknown.