13 Above the Night

• Artist: My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1994
• Total Time: 71:45
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Rock

Review

The perfect soundtrack to a pill-crazed romp through L.A.'s dirtiest and lowest whorehouses, 13 Above the Night is a record as much about style as substance. But, then again, that's all that it really aspires to be. Reveling in dark sexuality, drug use, and the occult, it conjures up the spirit of the lost of America's cities remarkably. Celebrating the surface level as it does, it is difficult to listen to this record with anything close to a critical ear. It is a loud, unsubtle album that is nevertheless danceable and seductive. The production team of Buzz McCoy and Groovie Mann pair percolating synth grooves and techno rhythms with buzzing guitars and almost R&B-style female background singers. Heavily-processed lead vocals slither in and out of the tracks, emerging to spit venomous and cryptic lines such as "killed his taste in switchblades" (from "Delicate Terror"). Creepy vocal samples play a prominent role in My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult's music, in much the same way that they are used by White Zombie. The entire album holds together quite well, with each track having compelling moments. Fellow traveler Lydia Lunch shows up for the swinging "Dirty Little Secrets," which provides perhaps the greatest view into the Thrill Kill Kult world-view, with its seductive vocals that are less the come-on of a woman to her beloved than the desperate plea of a washed-up porn star turning tricks for heroin money. A depressing record, to be sure, but interesting on its own merits. It's not a bad place to visit, but you sure as hell wouldn't want to live there. ~ Daniel Gioffre, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The Velvet Edge	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(3:45)
Delicate Terror	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(5:37)
Badlife (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(4:16)
Dirty Little Secrets	Lydia Lunch, Buzz McCoy	Lydia Lunch, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(3:40)
China de Sade (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(4:28)
Dimentia 66 (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(4:43)
Final Blindness (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(4:23)
Blue Buddha (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(7:15)
Starmartyr (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(5:46)
Electrical Soul Wish (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(5:30)
13 Above the Night	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(3:52)
Disko Fleshpot	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(5:03)
Savage Sexteen (Lyrics)	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(3:03)
Blue Buddha [Master of the Ultraflesh Mix][*]	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(6:10)
Electrical Soul Wish [Miss Hate Mix][*]	Buzz McCoy	My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Bomb Gang Girls	(4:14)

Credits

Shawn Christopher (Vocals), Lydia Lunch (Vocals), Kathe Schreyer (Artwork), Buzz McCoy (Producer), Eric Stitt Greedy (Engineer), Groovie Mann (Executive Producer), Bomb Gang Girls (Performer), Luc Van Acker (Guitar), Jay Lean (Engineer)