I once promised Frownland I would listen to his album, or the album by his band, and review it, but after (sorry man) suffering through it I felt I would have only negative things to say, and as I didn't want to upset him or have him set a giant spider on me, I said ti would be best if I didn't review it. He agreed. But now we come to the Showcase and it's fair to say that although I certainly wouldn't be into his (or their) brand of music, probably a lot of people here are or could be, so it's unfair for me to dismiss him out of hand. Also, this is supposed to be the place where anyone can showcase their talent and it's not really up to me to decide what can and can't be reviewed. Well, it is, but I have to try to be as even-handed and open-minded as I can (which is not that easy when you're wearing a pair of plastic antlers I can tell you, but it is Christmas!) and so I've decided to try a different album of his. It's not the one he suggested but it was the first one that came up when I went to the bandcamp page, therefore I assume the latest. Here's what I thought of it.
Lizard of Ox --- Wolves in Sheepskin --- 2014 (Bandcamp release)
The opening track is weird. Now I expected this, having listened to the previous effort and found it, well, how can I put this? Weird. But it's only a short track, so probably not a real indication of what the rest of the album is going to be like. Or maybe it is. Anyway, it sounded to me like beginning with thunder or some sort of rumbling noise, then someone pushing paint cans along a warehouse floor, followed by water swirling down a bath plughole. Yeah. It's called “Hushtug”, and it lasts just shy of two minutes. The next one is much longer, almost seven, with another odd title: “Sundress nimbus forecast”. This one has a lot of percussion that sounds like someone falling down a flight of stairs and then some horns that wail like the souls of the damned, while other sounds I cannot identify but which may contain guitar, harmonium, keys, piano and possibly a reanimated corpse dancing all flood out of the speakers and grab you by the throat. Hell, even Waits would run from this!
But to put it in context, this is what I'm told is called experimental or noise rock, so my good friend melody is unlikely to be found loitering anywhere in the vicinity. Some sort of chanting vocal now coming in --- are they sacrificing someone to Captain Beefheart? --- and what sounds like a gaggle of geese passing through, probably wondering who these guys are and why they're practicing in the barnyard? Could be some mice in there too, or some restless spirit being chased across the yard? “Act III” is very Beefheart (from what I know of his work, which is very little), with a crashing drumbeat with lots of hi-hat and a spoken vocal in a sort of absurd poem, something that sounds like banjo in the background and guitar.
It remains very hard, despite my determination to get through this, to review it. It just sounds like noise to me, which I know it's not; my musical palette is not developed enough to appreciate this I guess you could say, but it really does just grate on me. I can hear a certain repeated melody of sorts in the drumwork, yes, but everything else just seems to be firing off in all directions, everyone doing their own thing. I'm sure that's not the case and that this is a very tight band who really know what they're doing; it's just not something I can appreciate on any level. The fact that the tracks are mostly very long too is not helping. I see with horror that the closing, and title track, is over eleven minutes long. God save my poor soul!
“Weepy flor” (don't ask me!) has a lot of tinkling bells, sudden piano chords and what could be a glockenspiel (or just a Glock; wouldn't put it past these guys!) and sounds almost like those wind chimes you hear blowing in the evening breeze, often presaging the attack of the madman on the porch. This seems fairly sedate though, compared to the other tracks, and I could almost call it ambient to a degree. Certainly the most “musical” so far by a country mile. But hold on a moment: “Brazilian basement lodge” has a nice acoustic guitar opening and while it still sounds like someone's trying to open boxes behind the guitarist with a crowbar, it's relatively melodic. Bit of a mad growl there and then some squealing horns, but definitely more approaching what I'd call music. Sounds like they brought some pigs into the studio, and maybe a baby? Some very nice quiet bass going on in the background too.
“Verb the noun” (see what you did there guys!) has someone clumping upstairs in heavy boots, or maybe hammering in nails into wood, then a sound like someone sanding wood (is this a DIY job set to music?), add in some screamed, growled vocals which are basically indecipherable but sort of resonate with a Waitsness and then either someone crying or a zither maybe. Kinda sounds like a drunk guy wending his way home while being accosted by another, slightly less drunk guy shouting at him with a kazoo jammed in his mouth. Really, that's what it conjures up to me. There's a spacey intro then to “Piano parlour overdose” which reminds me of nothing more than a videogame, don't hear any piano but hey, it's over eight minutes long (oh no!) so there's time. Actually I think I hear one there, being played very fast and maybe out of tune, scales going up and down while a screechy guitar --- you know what? I don't know what's being played here most of the time, and since the bandcamp page notes “home-made instruments”, they could be bashing chair legs on the floor or playing toilet brushes for all I know.
Sort of sound like a jet going overhead, then some piano breaks though with what sounds to me like the theme to “The Twilight Zone” (appropriate, in my case) and descending chords then make it sound like everything is falling down a flight of steps. Again. Well I said I wouldn't say this but I'm glad we're at the end. I'm not sure how I've lasted this long but here we are, and I'm glad I stuck it out, not because I've enjoyed the music but because I feel like I haven't taken the easy way out. Mind you, the closer is as I said eleven minutes long, but there's really nothing left for me to say about this. It's music I'll never get into, or understand, or appreciate. But if this kind of thing is your kind of thing, check Wolves in Sheepskin out. I'm sure it's a solid example of that sort of music, well played and delivered, well written and well thought out.
But, you know, and I say this with a heavy heart, to me it's just noise.
Sorry man.
Note: Hope you didn't mind all the jokes but I could really think of nothing to write musically after a while, and looking at it in a lighthearted vein was sort of the only way I could get through it...