The quieter sense of different approaches for Nitzer Ebb started to come to the fore more with the striking Showtime, at once a new honing of their ear for beats and lyrics-as-exultant-slogans fusion and a way for the Douglas McCarthy/Bon Harris team to see what else they could try and do. “Lightning Man” is a great example, with a lead hook via clarinet and an Foetus-level sense of big band in hell, while the album opens and closes fantastically strong, thanks respectively to “Getting Closer”’s building brawl and the celebratory statements of purpose in “Fun To Be Had.”