One of the few truly radical rock bands of the 21st century, Crippled Black Phoenix have amassed a huge catalogue of music. Understandably, given the harmonious efficacy of their current line-up, they’ve elected to re-record and rework a number of old songs, reclaiming them for the present day. What could have been a straightforward odds’n’sods collection is really a new studio album, albeit one with flagrant echoes from the past.
CBP mainstays Justin Greaves and Belinda Kordic have navigated their way through many years of turbulence – particularly regarding personnel – and so The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature endeavours to establish fresh versions of low-key classics, gently banishing any half-remembered bad blood and clearing the decks for a new era of furious creativity that actually began, in truth, with 2022’s double set Banefyre.
Less a stopgap than an important adjustment of CBP’s musical focus, it’s the perfect vehicle for celebrating their 20th anniversary. It begins with a stunning rebirth for one of their finest songs. We Forgotten Who We Are originally appeared on 2012’s I, Vigilante, and is arguably the one song here that requires little tinkering.
That said, the new version is even more grand and gritty than its forebear; and Kordic and co-vocalist Justin Storms’ dual performance is a masterclass in blended tones and two-way chemistry.
Similarly, Song For The Unloved (originally titled Song For The Loved, from 2009’s The Resurrectionists) ebbs and flows over 14 blissfully dynamic, spiritually enriching minutes, rendering the original almost entirely redundant.
Stunning new takes on 444, Whissendine and, in particular, a fulsome rejig of Goodnight, Europe (from 2007 debut A Love Of Shared Disasters) are beautiful, bruising and subtly ingenious in equal measure.
Anyone who’s witnessed Crippled Black Phoenix performing Pink Floyd’s Echoes in full will know that this band are absurdly great at cover versions. A companion album, Horrific Honorifics Number Two – a sequel to the 2017 covers set of the same name – is another spellbinding collection of subversive reinterpretations.
New Model Army’s vitriolic anthem Vengeance is dispatched with zeal; Laura Branigan’s 80s super-hit Self Control is reborn as an aching cry for help; songs by Nomeansno, Fugazi and Built To Spill are given the caustic, wall-of-guitar treatment; and Deep Purple’s When A Blind Man Cries exudes iridescent, emotional power.
• The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature and Horrific Honorifics Number Two are both on sale now via Season Of Mist.
