Billy Nayer Show

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More About

• Cory McAbee
• Frank Swart
• Bobby Lurie

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Though songwriter and all-around auteur Cory McAbee has called the Billy Nayer Show's latest its most accessible effort yet, longtime local fans needn't be too concerned; the tunesmith can't help but populate his warped songs with seductive mama hens, log-humping grease lizards, and praying bears. Mixing nursery-rhyme sweetness and sexually charged cynicism, the Billy Nayer Show continues to explore the dark corners of McAbee's psyche on the band's seventh collection, Rabbit. Pared down to a trio augmented by auxiliary players -- BNS co-founder/drummer Bobby Lurie and bassist Frank Swart round out the lineup -- the Show covers a broader range of sounds than in the past. The familiar, wistful melancholy heard on "Essence" and "The Time Has Gone" gets balanced by the glam-rock attack of "Roam the World" (which wouldn't sound out of place on Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets) and the Zeppelin-esque, distorted bass fury of "Sloth." The strange characters in "Raymond" and "Rabbits and Bears" don't quite measure up to the bizarre heights of McAbee's past creations, but loyal followers of the group will find plenty to enjoy here.