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Critic's Review
Geoff Ginsberg, All Music Guide
Australia's Celibate Rifles, the band that almost single-handedly carried the torch of Detroit rock & roll into the '90s (and beyond?), have done the unthinkable: They've released an acoustic disc. Actually, it's not fully acoustic, but rather "on the quiet," as the title suggests. Here we have our heroes redoing eight of their older numbers and four electric cover versions of Australian rock songs. Of the older songs, "Netherworld" and "Sentinel" are two of the band's dark and moody jam numbers, which are even spookier in this dense acoustic setting, not to mention the classics "Jesus on TV" and the rarely performed "Electric Snake River." Of the covers, particularly notable are the Lipstick Killers' "Hindu Gods of Love," an underground hit from 1979 which got released stateside by Bomp Records. The Rifles turn up the juice and these last few songs could have been called "on the loud." Also, "Boys (What Did the Detective Say)," by the Sports (remember them?), rocks furiously. As on all Rifles recordings, the playing throughout the disc is exemplary. The turbo acoustic guitars of Kent Steedman and Dave Morris mesh with Damien Lovelock's monotone and highly literate lyrics to create something a bit different, but yet the same. In other words, even though the Celibate Rifles are known for their sh*t-hot playing, energy, and insight, this lacks only the volume -- not the thunder.
