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The God Machine
One Last Laugh In a Place of Dying

Released 1994 on Fiction Records
Reviewed by Jasonaparkes, 10/07/2004ce 1. The Tremelo Song
2. Mama
3. Alone
4. In Bad Dreams
5. Painless
6. The Love Song
7. The Life Song
8. The Devil Song
9. The Hunter
10. Evol
11. The Train Song
12. The Flower Song
13. Boy By the Roadside

Dedicated to bassplayer Jimmy Fernandez, One Last Laugh in a Place of Dying is definite contender for the bleakest record of all time- though vocalist/guitarist Robin Proper-Sheppard has tested that with his post-GM outfit Sophia. One Last Laugh...was the second and final LP from The God Machine, who drifted from California to New York to Texas to London to Amsterdam, back to London and then finally recording this in Prague in 1993. On one hand, The God Machine fit with such post-Sabbath U.S. acts like Jane's Addiction, Kyuss & Alice in Chains; while at the same time they appeared to tap into British post-punk bad vibes: Killing Joke, The Scream, Pornography & Heaven Up Here (the latter given away when they covered Zimbo/All My Colours for a radio session). Both One Last Laugh...and debut Scenes from the Second Storey (1992) are fetching tidy sums as second-hand copies in the usual places- imagine a more European-take on grunge then...

The God Machine continue 'The [...] Song' thing from the debut, though bother to expand their sound here with strings on The Hunter & In Bad Dreams. The Tremelo Song bursts into life through a hail of feedback, settling into something between Zeppelin and 1000 Homo DJs & sounding like the last song, rather than the first (The God Machine are a cheerless, draining band- then again, so are Joy Division!). Mama offers rage relating to inter-family physical violence (listening to The God Machine and Sofia, something sounds very wrong somewhere). In Bad Dreams moves us toward melody, following track Painless plumps for the anthemic, "but I open my mouth- but you hear no sounds- but you said 'Life can be painless'- I'm sorry, that's not what I've found..." The God Machine appeared to do what both Jane's Addiction & Nirvana failed to do (opting for addiction & suicide instead) - it's just a pity few were listening!

The gothic (think Music for a New Society/The Scream, rather than In the Flatfield/First & Last & Always) continues with The Love Song, which doesn't sound that enamoured with love. I'm not sure the band could have progressed much further here- songs like Alone, The Love Song & Evol sound like the end of rock. They sound like the last song in every set. An LP of last songs. The working out of every riff- no need for them to be ever repeated again. Evol sounds like Sabbath playing Metal Box- gruelling stuff that really ought to be in most top 10 lists of miserable records. Some light appears when drummer Ronald Austin switches to piano , and there is a sound on The Train Song that this is more New Order than Joy Division- though sadly what starts out as a jangly-New Order track ends up sounding like New Dawn Fades to 11. The Flower Song is like a more metal take on bands like Embrace & Rites of Spring, the mantra "I wish I could fly" sounding like a wish that the bleak stuff would be transcended (Sophia's latest LP appears to have finally achieved that...).

Shortly after One Last Laugh...was mixed, bassist Jimmy Fernandez found himself in hospital- eventually slipping into a coma and dying of a brain tumour. Despite being recorded & written before that event, it sounds like it was recorded after. Perhaps reminiscent of records like Closer, The Holy Bible & In Utero, it sounds like a self-unfullfilling prophecy, a portent of tragedy, playing with fire. One Last Laugh In a Place of Dying was released and dedicated to Fernandez- The God Machine were no more. Listening to them now, it's easy to see why stuff like Muse, Nu-Metal, & Smashing Pumpkins is a joke. & it's also the kind of record that makes you wonder if rock music is actually dead, or has died and we haven't been told? One Last Laugh...has that car-crash quality like Sylvia Plath- Nick Drake-Yukio Mishima- [insert suicidal artist here] etc- a vortex of misery that is decidely unhealthy and the kind of record some people would be better of not being exposed to. But I'm glad it exists- The God Machine meant it- and someday their existence may become more acknowledged. The misery and poverty that surrounded them was surmounted by creativity and sometimes beauty. One Last Laugh in a Place of Dying is perhaps the ultimate angst record, ultimate contender for the bleakest record ever released. Which is something...

On 13-May-05 at 02:09:52 BST, seller added the following information:

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