Lick My Decals Off, Baby

Rock · 1970 · 15 tracks

Lick My Decals Off, Baby

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

1970 · Oldays Records

Lick My Decals Off, Baby is a masterclass in controlled chaos, offering a leaner and more rhythmically focused experience than its sprawling predecessor. The album feels like a physical object: the dry, woody clatter of Art Tripp's marimba provides a skeletal framework for the Magic Band's most intricate interlocking guitar work.

It is music that demands your full attention, rewarding the listener with a sense of playful, slapstick subversion that hides beneath its intimidating, jagged exterior.

Tracklist · 15 Tracks

01

Lick My Decals Off, Baby

2:38

02

Doctor Dark

2:46

03

I Love You, You Big Dummy

2:54

04

Peon

2:23

05

Bellerin’ Plain

3:35

06

Woe‐Is‐Uh‐Me‐Bop

2:04

07

Japan in a Dishpan

3:00

08

I Wanna Find a Woman That’ll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go

1:54

09

Petrified Forest

1:40

10

One Red Rose That I Mean

1:54

11

The Buggy Boogie Woogie

2:18

12

The Smithsonian Institute Blues (or The Big Dig)

2:10

13

Space‐Age Couple

2:32

14

The Clouds Are Full of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye)

2:47

15

Flash Gordon’s Ape

4:16

Moments Worth Listening For

The moment the marimba and drums lock into a frantic, counter-intuitive gallop on the title track.

Van Vliet's sudden shift from a low, menacing growl to a high-pitched squawk during Woe-is-uh-Me-Bop.

The way the two guitars on Doctor Dark seem to be playing two entirely different songs that somehow meet at the seams.

Reviews

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Where This Album Departs

How does Lick My Decals Off, Baby sound next to the rest of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band's catalogue?

This album stays in step with the catalogue across the board — no axis departs enough to be worth its own note. Hover the dots to see where each one sits.

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