The Fugue In the Fog
A more appropriate name for this band would
be The Sea Monkeys, cuz every time I hear this album it reminds
me of one of those little castles that you'd find in a goldfish
bowl. Maybe it's the underwater quality of the production, but
I just see these guys miniaturized and rockin' out at the bottom
of a bowl of water. My weird illusions aside, these guys manage
the blues tinged art school rock thing without a guitar--or
an ounce of shame. The grooves are straight forward and crushing,
although not really varying from track to track. They also love
to mention the name of the band a lot (five titles actually
have the word "ape" in them), leading me to believe that there's
not much going on in the lyrics department. I actually got this
CD free from Frenchkiss when I ordered a couple Les
Savy Fav albums from them, so to complain at all is pretty
weak on my part. This is a great dose of spazzy art rock that
is long on potential but a little less successful in its execution.
The kitsch of wearing fatigues and speaking of mystical lands
is always a draw for some, but it seems they actually put
some thought into the music heading into their second LP, as
it shows good progression from this debut. |
Oddeyesee
These days not having a guitar in your band
makes you artsy. We know that artsy isn't everybody's bag when
it comes to music--as it usually means inaccessible and difficult.
Well, in The Apes case, you may be right. First, we have this
weird robot-sounding narrator who is kind of the overseer of
this album, kind of the keeper of the Moog or something. The
songs sound like The Doors if they were possessed by a demonic
Japanese supermonster and playing a gig in a haunted house. Scare
you yet? Some of the stuff even veers into The Damned territory.
I'm almost waiting for the lightening strikes and rain noises--oh,
there they are! This is some strange stuff, to be sure, and
the production is bizarre to boot, with an odd sound that makes
it sound as if the band is playing at the bottom of a well.
While this certainly isn't for everyone, there is some pretty
compelling music on here, including the standout track, "Children
Of Brainbow N Brainbro." I think they're political, but
who the hell can tell? |
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