The Album Club 2017

The Identity Matrix · 04-09-2017, 10:57 PM

Museum Mouth - Popcorn Fish Guinea Pig

I'll be honest. I really dug this record. I'm not sure why but the melodies on this album gave me a nice dose of nostalgia for my younger years, 10-13. The pop punk sensibilities kept me intrigued and the vocals were pretty good. The bass lines caught my attention, and the guitar work is decent. History's Mysteries was probably my favorite track out of the bunch. I'll come back to this record probably in the near future. Really this isn't a record that is going to blow your mind. Nor will you be calling it a classic. But it was fun, and once in a while you need some fun in your life.

7.8 out of 10

Electrophonic Tonic · 04-10-2017, 01:02 AM

Museum Mouth
Popcorn Fish Guinea Pig

Full disclosure: When I first saw the artist name, album title and album art, I was prepared for some blase, twee indie "rock". I figured at some point in their history they were invited in to neuter Two Tickets to Paradise for an episode of AV Undercover. Long story short: I put off my review because I just had a bad feeling about it.

I've listened to it a few times now and I have to say, it's a nice album. Not good, not bad. But nice. It never over-commits to being too noisy, poppy, dance-punky or psychedelic. I guess you could argue that they're being very middle-of-the-road and blase by doing that, but for me it feels more like a band that's trying to explore their sound, and isn't married to any specific one. The variety isn't bold, but it's apparent between each track and that's a positive. It's also mellow, but not lifeless, which is a trap that I feel like a lot of hipster indie bands fall into. This is mellow, but it sounds like the band actually gives some semblance of a fuck about the music they're playing. As the same time, there really isn't anything all that memorable on here, and that's no bueno for me. It's probably been about 30 minutes since my 3rd and most recent listen and I can't think of anything that stuck out and made we want to remember it.

I find the album pleasant enough to listen to, but I don't find myself wanting to listen to it more or having any particular track stick with me since I started listening on Friday. To kinda repeat myself, it's not dull, but there's not enough there for me to say that I liked or disliked any particular track. I will give it some credit because the bar for me going in was buried 10 feet below the ground, and this album cleared it.

5.9999999999999999999999/10

Trollheart · 04-10-2017, 09:42 AM

Okay, let's have no more reviews of Museum Mouth. It's Monday for us all and we're onto the next album. If you ain't posted on MM by now please don't bother, we're moving on. Thanks.

Tristan_Geoff · 04-10-2017, 06:15 PM

Go ahead and take me out of rotation. I hate writing reviews when I don't want to but I still want to (and did join originally) for recs and album discussion. I'm just gonna take out the weekly stress of having to write a review from now on. Sorry for the hassle.

TechnicLePanther · 04-10-2017, 06:54 PM

Troll, what genre of album should I recommend?

Also, my review is here now:

The Gris Gris - The Gris Gris

This is certainly an odd album. However, it may just be one of those rare cases where you have an odd album with mass appeal. And there is definitely a lot of appeal to this album. By mixing early neo-psych tendencies with indie rock, The Gris Gris have made an enjoyable blend for almost any modern music connoisseur. The album begins with Raygun, a track that feels a bit like a pot of water slowly rising to a boil. The opener features a slow marching drum beat and a jangly guitar which are slowly enveloped by a haze of noise, then an abrupt change towards a much faster-paced drum line which slowly accumulates instruments until the much slower breakdown and the repeated "Raygun, raygun, da dum, da dum".

The next track, Everytime is much shorter and will impress neo-psych fans with a, perhaps unintentional, homage to Astronomy Domine. The keys in this one also play a prominent role. Mary #38 has even more psychedelic appeal, with a slow slippery drumline and palpable bass. Me queda um bejou, a guitar-heavy, almost entirely acoustic track with a hint of piano also showcases a sax solo, demonstrating a bit of range for the band, and the whole track does have a bit of a romantic feel to it. Plain Vanilla is overall a pretty stressful and unsightly track, which at this point is obviously intentional. Many wild instrumentals weave in and out of the main bass line and create a colorful dissonance.

What I can only presume is the second half of the album begins with an uptempo blues track called Necessary Separation. I have to praise the guitar work in the solo towards the middle of the track, it certainly calls back Clapton in its simple virtuosity. One drum line persists throughout this entire track, with what I assume to be the same bass line underneath all of that noise! Certainly one of the more experimental and perhaps patience-testing tracks on the album. The penultimate track, Medication #3 reminds me a bit of the Sung Tongs and Feels from Animal Collective, and the melody of the track is probably one of the best and also one of the most blatantly post-60s of the album. The melancholy feel of the track does, however, serve as a nice contrast to the simple country ditty finishing off the album, Winter Weather.

So what can I say? This album drew me in like a fish on a hook. While most of the production and performance is sloppy, the songwriting and attitude of the band have won me over. This album doesn't really have a track that you can point to and say, this one is worse than this other one, it feels more like it's just up to personal taste. And nothing about this album is stale or overblown. The tracks are just long enough and the contrast between them is just large enough to prevent boredom or distaste. With that said, there's nothing about this LP that jumps out at you to make an amazing album. The downside of having a bunch of good tracks is that you can't have any that are great. And don't get me wrong, I love a solid, consistent album, but there has to be something beyond consistency to throw an album into the upper echelon. Still, at least to me, this album is really good, a solid 7-8 out of 10.

This LP fits between Grateful Dead - American Beauty and Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me on my ranked albums list. Note: This list hasn't been around for very long, so I still don't have many LPs to measure up to.

Electrophonic Tonic · 04-10-2017, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechnicLePanther

Troll, what genre of album should I recommend?

So far we've had

-Shoegaze/indie/neo-psyche

-Grindcore/thrash with a comedic bent

-Experimental/noise/math rock

-Indie/garage/psyche rock

-Noisy/alt rock with a southern twang

-Rap rock/pop punk

-Lo-fi college/indie rock

And upcoming (according to rateyourmusic)...

-Psychedelic/garage

-Traditional country

-Funk/hip hop

-Progressive metal

-Hip-hop/Latin/Dance/

-Third stream (apparently jazz + western classical music, TIL), experimental

-Techdeath, Deathcore

As for years, included upcoming music, the oldest years are 1956, 1961 and 1988. The other 11 albums are from 1989 or more recent.

**Frownland** · 04-10-2017, 10:08 PM

My next one wasn't added to the list. Jazz/experimental/math rock/electronica.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

Strobes - Brokespeak

My next choice.

Trollheart · 04-11-2017, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Tristan Rosenstock

Go ahead and take me out of rotation. I hate writing reviews when I don't want to but I still want to (and did join originally) for recs and album discussion. I'm just gonna take out the weekly stress of having to write a review from now on. Sorry for the hassle.

Well you don't have to write a full review of course, as you can see some people just do something along the lines of "this sucks" or "this rocks", but it's up to you. If you really want to leave I'll remove you from the list. Is this anything to do with the lukewarm reception towards your first album? I'd give it a chance, but again it's up to you. Just confirm that you're done, if you are, and I'll take you off the list but we'll be sorry to see you go.

TLP: Originally I had intended restricting the choices to genre by genre, ie first person does say a new wave album, next one can't and so on but I've kind of abandoned that idea, so basically whatever genre or subgenre you like, even if it's exactly the same as one already used. Up to you totally.

Frown: I haven't added your second album because I won't be doing that till we get to the end of the first list. Working out starting dates is a pain. I have noted it though.

**Goofle** · 04-11-2017, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechnicLePanther

Troll, what genre of album should I recommend?

Also, my review is here now:

The Gris Gris - The Gris Gris

This is certainly an odd album. However, it may just be one of those rare cases where you have an odd album with mass appeal. And there is definitely a lot of appeal to this album. By mixing early neo-psych tendencies with indie rock, The Gris Gris have made an enjoyable blend for almost any modern music connoisseur. The album begins with Raygun, a track that feels a bit like a pot of water slowly rising to a boil. The opener features a slow marching drum beat and a jangly guitar which are slowly enveloped by a haze of noise, then an abrupt change towards a much faster-paced drum line which slowly accumulates instruments until the much slower breakdown and the repeated "Raygun, raygun, da dum, da dum".

The next track, Everytime is much shorter and will impress neo-psych fans with a, perhaps unintentional, homage to Astronomy Domine. The keys in this one also play a prominent role. Mary #38 has even more psychedelic appeal, with a slow slippery drumline and palpable bass. Me queda um bejou, a guitar-heavy, almost entirely acoustic track with a hint of piano also showcases a sax solo, demonstrating a bit of range for the band, and the whole track does have a bit of a romantic feel to it. Plain Vanilla is overall a pretty stressful and unsightly track, which at this point is obviously intentional. Many wild instrumentals weave in and out of the main bass line and create a colorful dissonance.

What I can only presume is the second half of the album begins with an uptempo blues track called Necessary Separation. I have to praise the guitar work in the solo towards the middle of the track, it certainly calls back Clapton in its simple virtuosity. One drum line persists throughout this entire track, with what I assume to be the same bass line underneath all of that noise! Certainly one of the more experimental and perhaps patience-testing tracks on the album. The penultimate track, Medication #3 reminds me a bit of the Sung Tongs and Feels from Animal Collective, and the melody of the track is probably one of the best and also one of the most blatantly post-60s of the album. The melancholy feel of the track does, however, serve as a nice contrast to the simple country ditty finishing off the album, Winter Weather.

So what can I say? This album drew me in like a fish on a hook. While most of the production and performance is sloppy, the songwriting and attitude of the band have won me over. This album doesn't really have a track that you can point to and say, this one is worse than this other one, it feels more like it's just up to personal taste. And nothing about this album is stale or overblown. The tracks are just long enough and the contrast between them is just large enough to prevent boredom or distaste. With that said, there's nothing about this LP that jumps out at you to make an amazing album. The downside of having a bunch of good tracks is that you can't have any that are great. And don't get me wrong, I love a solid, consistent album, but there has to be something beyond consistency to throw an album into the upper echelon. Still, at least to me, this album is really good, a solid 7-8 out of 10.

This LP fits between Grateful Dead - American Beauty and Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me on my ranked albums list. Note: This list hasn't been around for very long, so I still don't have many LPs to measure up to.

That's a really good overview of the album. It's a 10/10 for me but I've had a lot of time to grow with it and make more of a connection. I see it as a perfect soundtrack for your inevitable death.

Tristan_Geoff · 04-11-2017, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Is this anything to do with the lukewarm reception towards your first album? I'd give it a chance, but again it's up to you. Just confirm that you're done, if you are, and I'll take you off the list but we'll be sorry to see you go.

Not really, it got a better response than I thought it would. More due to the fact that I was too lazy to chime in about it myself at all, lol. Like I said, I'll still listen to the albums and discuss them if I feel like it but I don't want to be a burden especially when I'm not contributing much.

04-10-2017, 01:02 AM	#542 (permalink)
Electrophonic Tonic Your Ad Here Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: The Twilight Zone Posts: 876	Museum Mouth Popcorn Fish Guinea Pig Full disclosure: When I first saw the artist name, album title and album art, I was prepared for some blase, twee indie "rock". I figured at some point in their history they were invited in to neuter Two Tickets to Paradise for an episode of AV Undercover. Long story short: I put off my review because I just had a bad feeling about it. I've listened to it a few times now and I have to say, it's a nice album. Not good, not bad. But nice. It never over-commits to being too noisy, poppy, dance-punky or psychedelic. I guess you could argue that they're being very middle-of-the-road and blase by doing that, but for me it feels more like a band that's trying to explore their sound, and isn't married to any specific one. The variety isn't bold, but it's apparent between each track and that's a positive. It's also mellow, but not lifeless, which is a trap that I feel like a lot of hipster indie bands fall into. This is mellow, but it sounds like the band actually gives some semblance of a fuck about the music they're playing. As the same time, there really isn't anything all that memorable on here, and that's no bueno for me. It's probably been about 30 minutes since my 3rd and most recent listen and I can't think of anything that stuck out and made we want to remember it. I find the album pleasant enough to listen to, but I don't find myself wanting to listen to it more or having any particular track stick with me since I started listening on Friday. To kinda repeat myself, it's not dull, but there's not enough there for me to say that I liked or disliked any particular track. I will give it some credit because the bar for me going in was buried 10 feet below the ground, and this album cleared it. 5.9999999999999999999999/10 __________________ I was told I wouldn't need a signature...

04-10-2017, 09:42 AM	#543 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	*Okay, let's have no more reviews of Museum Mouth. It's Monday for us all and we're onto the next album. If you ain't posted on MM by now please don't bother, we're moving on. Thanks.* __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-10-2017, 06:54 PM	#545 (permalink)
TechnicLePanther and the livin' is easy... Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: New York Posts: 1,997	Troll, what genre of album should I recommend? Also, my review is here now: The Gris Gris - The Gris Gris This is certainly an odd album. However, it may just be one of those rare cases where you have an odd album with mass appeal. And there is definitely a lot of appeal to this album. By mixing early neo-psych tendencies with indie rock, The Gris Gris have made an enjoyable blend for almost any modern music connoisseur. The album begins with Raygun, a track that feels a bit like a pot of water slowly rising to a boil. The opener features a slow marching drum beat and a jangly guitar which are slowly enveloped by a haze of noise, then an abrupt change towards a much faster-paced drum line which slowly accumulates instruments until the much slower breakdown and the repeated "Raygun, raygun, da dum, da dum". The next track, Everytime is much shorter and will impress neo-psych fans with a, perhaps unintentional, homage to Astronomy Domine. The keys in this one also play a prominent role. Mary #38 has even more psychedelic appeal, with a slow slippery drumline and palpable bass. Me queda um bejou, a guitar-heavy, almost entirely acoustic track with a hint of piano also showcases a sax solo, demonstrating a bit of range for the band, and the whole track does have a bit of a romantic feel to it. Plain Vanilla is overall a pretty stressful and unsightly track, which at this point is obviously intentional. Many wild instrumentals weave in and out of the main bass line and create a colorful dissonance. What I can only presume is the second half of the album begins with an uptempo blues track called Necessary Separation. I have to praise the guitar work in the solo towards the middle of the track, it certainly calls back Clapton in its simple virtuosity. One drum line persists throughout this entire track, with what I assume to be the same bass line underneath all of that noise! Certainly one of the more experimental and perhaps patience-testing tracks on the album. The penultimate track, Medication #3 reminds me a bit of the Sung Tongs and Feels from Animal Collective, and the melody of the track is probably one of the best and also one of the most blatantly post-60s of the album. The melancholy feel of the track does, however, serve as a nice contrast to the simple country ditty finishing off the album, Winter Weather. So what can I say? This album drew me in like a fish on a hook. While most of the production and performance is sloppy, the songwriting and attitude of the band have won me over. This album doesn't really have a track that you can point to and say, this one is worse than this other one, it feels more like it's just up to personal taste. And nothing about this album is stale or overblown. The tracks are just long enough and the contrast between them is just large enough to prevent boredom or distaste. With that said, there's nothing about this LP that jumps out at you to make an amazing album. The downside of having a bunch of good tracks is that you can't have any that are great. And don't get me wrong, I love a solid, consistent album, but there has to be something beyond consistency to throw an album into the upper echelon. Still, at least to me, this album is really good, a solid 7-8 out of 10. This LP fits between Grateful Dead - American Beauty and Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me on my ranked albums list. Note: This list hasn't been around for very long, so I still don't have many LPs to measure up to. __________________ Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN *SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM* - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough. Last edited by TechnicLePanther; 04-10-2017 at 08:10 PM.