NeutralHead Collective - In The Merryweather Rainbow over the Spectacular
Year: 2009
Track by Track review:
In The King of Pretend:
Oh my god, this is amazing, there's at least 50 different vocals hooks here with great songwriting:
"I am in the king of Pretend
I like to Pretend in the King
Pretend the King of In"
Repeated over and over.
Weekend Bodysnatcher:
An instrumental track with all four band members contributing a minute of music. This five minute epic is the second longest and most interesting song on the album, there is almost a drum solo, but the drummer decided against it. The guitarist also almost played a few notes in the blues scale but again decided against it.
Arid/Threadbare:
A minimalist track, the vocalist sings about his life growing up in the slums in England despite being from the Lakes District. The guitarist plays the same note over and over and the bassist has been fired by this point in the album.
Communist Reckoner:
A tasty electronic number, the bassist by this point has been replaced with a programmer, and they've managed to make something very unique for 1970. All the band members sing here creating a lovely vocal harmony.
Venus In Furs:
The band try their hand at a Velvet Underground song with their own jangly indie guitar riff. The singer Minces about mumbling the words while the drummer decides to play in 17/2 time.
Untitled:
A 1 minute band jam with the sound of the producer shooting himself in the background followed by laughs from the entire band.
Of Jigsaw, Falling and Place:
The big leading single from the album, recorded underwater, if you listen very closely you can hear severl screams as the guitarist is shocked over and over again. This is by far his best guitar playing, he's all over the place and manages to get some very interesting sounds out.
Partake:
A ballad with a difference, not wanting to sound stale or anything they've decided to play exactly the same song that was on their last album, but with different lyrics.
Reddish:
The band tries to replay the entire album in one song, sampling also from their earlier material. This Epic closer lasts a massive five minutes and fifty seconds, a record for the band. They didn't know if they should include it in the album because "our fans might not be able to appreciate such a long song" but I'm so glad they did.
Score: 10/10 a total indie masterpiece