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AbattoirBlues/Lyre of Orpheus was is the most exhilarating and rewarding album released by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Because of that it would be a hard one to follow up. Not that Nick and the Seeds were in any hurry. To fill the gap, Grinderman was released that allowed Nick to give reign over to some of his more primal, noisier urges. But now we have a new Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds platter in Dig, Lazurus, Dig!!! But don’t go expecting any attempts to replicate Abattoir Blues . If you do then you’ll miss out on a great album.   The elements on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! are an emphasis to bass and drums (a fiercely solid backbeat rules some songs), layering of loops from Warren Ellis and some squarking, squeally guitar that drifts in and out of the album like a ghostly interloper from some other record. And of course the usual biblical inspired lyrics dealing with sex and death. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! opens the album with a zombie like lurching beat that frames the biblical tale of Lazurus in modern terms. No suprise that Larry grew increasingly neurotic and obscene! He never asked to be raised up from the tomb! and he ended up like so many of them do back on the streets of New York City! , In a soup queue , a dope fiend ,(a slave) ,then the prison ,then the madhouse ,then the grave would be the end result of the miracle. Today’s Lesson is a disturbing little number driven by a grooving bass line. Burgoning female sexuality meets a darker side of male desire. And Moonland ’s desolate landscape is rendered by the refrain “I’m not your favourite lover.” But that sort of quick overview doesn’t give you a hint of the sly humour and nifty phrases on Dig Lazarus Dig. Nick Cave is in love with words and putting them together. Two tracks stand out in this regards. We Call Upon the Author to Explain is a rambling, rambunctious rant driven by a heavy bass line and a on the spot snare. Nick lays out all that is bothering him, asking to author to make sense of it all. He breaks the song down, shifting from the organic to an electro beat with the line “Prolix! Prolix! Nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix.” The final track, More New from Nowhere , follows a lad through the corridor of past relationships. The track is built upon a loop from and an easy groove. Janet, Betty X, an unnamed Nubian princess and Deanna who takes us all back to 1988 and Tender Prey . Cave has a lot of fun on this song. No lyric spoilers here. Go seek for yourself. There are songs like Albert Goes West and Lie Down Here (and be my Girl) that could be called typical Bad Seeds. Lie Down Here particulary is driven by some dissonant, insistnet guitar that transforms a decent song into a an urgent plea. Having lived with the album for a few weeks now, the realization is that Dig, Lazurus, Dig!!! is a fuckin’ great record. It doesn’t stand as a successor to Abattoir Blues but as a continuation of the greatness of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. And goes to show that middle-aged rockers still have it. If you don’t believe me you can find the first six songs from the album on MySpace.