Music Banter - Qwertyy's Journal of Music Reviews and Other Assorted Ramblings

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Feral Chickens by Only A Mother
Recommended by: grindy (1 for 1 so far)

This album cover is reminiscent of something you'd see in a mid 90s Nickelodeon cartoon, so that alone has me excited to hear this. The name has me expecting something similar to the Bob Drake album grindy recommended me last time, and if that's the case I'm in one for a treat.

Warped #24: Right off of the get-go this thing has a lot going on. There's an accordion, some horns, a sample of whistling, and a plethora of other instruments. The layering is very well done, and each instrument stands out on it's own without anything really taking over. The track in some ways reminds me of a clay animation film, think The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride, or Coraline, this could slot right into the score for any of those films. There's also a little bit of medieval flair to the structure as well, or so I would assume from my limited knowledge of the topic (see GoT or Skyrim.) Definitely an intriguing opening track, but I've already wrote a lot about it so I'll shut up for now.

Mr. Hair: The second track opens up with some very haunting dissonant female vocals. I can see this being sung in a graveyard, it feels like some tribal seance kind of ****. Lyrically it appears to be some strange tale of love, but that's irrelevant because the track is so hypnotizing it's hard to concentrate on anything except for the drum beat. Either I'm crazy or this is getting louder and faster as it goes on... I think?

Doot-n-Doi: This one is certainly interesting. The horns have a bit flat sound to them, but it makes the track seem very cartoony. Definitely a silly lyrical cut, kind of hard to follow the premise but something to do with a set Porpoise siblings who... wait are they into incest? I don't know. I got lost trying to chase the subject of the song, but it's a decent track I suppose. It fails to make as much of an impression as the first two tracks did though.

Mahogony Wood: There seems to be two songs going on at once right now. Okay, it's been brought together but the mixing is wild, the sound keeps switching between my headphones which certainly makes for an interesting dynamic. The vocals sound like a dying elderly man, but they're few and far between so it doesn't really bug me. Oh wow, it's over already? This one was okay, better than the last but still didn't stand out all that much.

The Frog That Wished To Be As Big As The Ox: A story about a frog who wishes he was a big as an ox, I'm down with it. The cello is really prominent in this song and it''s among my favorite instruments so I love that aspect.

Mother's Little Helper: This one is like a ride on a gondola through Venice. I like the vocal approach taken by the woman, the bits where it's almost as if she's just speaking are clever.

It's been an interesting listen so far. I'm not totally into this yet, but it's had it's moments. There's 11 more songs so I'm hoping things are going to pick up from here on out.

The Farsighted Man On The Flying Trapeze: Another track that is about exactly what the title would believe you to be. How many people are in this group? I swear there's been at least 4 or 5 vocalists so far. This reminds me a lot of Singapore by Tom Waits, or even Rain Dogs in general. I feel like the album must have played a role in the development of their sound.

Nice Place To Paint: This just appears to be a little interlude. Nothing too notable. The narration here is nice, just a few words but whoever it is speaking has a very soothing voice.

A Little Blackout: More of what I've come to expect from this project. I feel like this would be classified as neofolk, correct? It's a genre I have very limited experience with so I'm not entirely sure of it but I'm starting to find the instrumentation kind of bland. I mean, each track has a lot going on which keeps it interesting, but it all seems kind of gimmicky and maybe I'm just getting warn out with it. There's a little bit of freak out with the guitar picking in this one, which is kind of cool. It's kind of buried in the background though, but it drew my attention regardless. Oh god, I just started picking up on the lyrical themes, this is about a domestic dispute. Did he kill his wife? Or just beat her up? Kind of powerful stuff, I might need to re-listen to this one later.

When We Two Have Parted: This is a little too experimental for me. It sounds like free improv, or maybe it's planned out that they're just going to kind of all do their own thing? Either way, I'm not a fan of it. This song is only about two and a half minutes long but boy is it ever dragging.

Crosslegged and Amazed: Another sillier cut here. I like the guitar work, kind of reminds me of Sufjan Stevens' Illinois.

Yeti: This one kicks off and immediately draws me back into the album. The instrumentation is all over the place but unlike on When We Two Have Parted, it feels as if it was thought out and it's executed quite well here. This is another track that could fit into the score for an animated film. I could see a cartoon character sneaking through the woods while this song plays, kind of haunting but also kind of quirky. One of my favorite tracks so far, without a doubt.

Holding Time: Maybe I just don't enjoy the tracks with the female vocalist? I don't know. I'm not totally into this one either, it's just kind of there. I was hoping for more of what they went for with Yeti, but this is just filler. "I can't remember what I forgot," I like that line a lot. This album dabbles between being genuinely silly in a Bob Drake kind of way, to feeling somewhat serious, it's a weird dynamic and it makes me unsure of what to expect going into each track. I don't know if that's good thing or not yet.

Tango: Yeah so this is like, a tango. This is the kind of track that would lead you to grab your girl and tear up the dance floor or w/e, but I'm not really seeing the necessity of it or how it fits into the album.

The Weather's So Bad: We're getting wild again with this one. Similar to When We Two Have Parted but with a vocal approach that reminds me of something from Rick & Morty.

O Death: And now this one is a slower track. Weird pacing throughout this thing to be honest. I'm feeling pretty neutral regarding the track and the album.

A Collection Of Warpeds: 12 minutes? Damn. I'm not really feeling up to this after already feeling like the album has dragged on too far, but obviously I need to give it a shot. Is this whole thing going to be an instrumental? I'm enjoying it so far, it seems to be going through phases, and they're each interesting for the same reason that Yeti was. They create some really cool imagery using only instruments and I like that a lot. 5 minutes down and I'm still enjoying it, but I'm ready for the album to be over honestly. If this had have been for or five tracks earlier, or even broken into two or three tracks and spread out, I probably would have enjoyed it more.

Final Verdict: I hate when people say this when they're reviewing something, but it's how I feel about the album. The tracks that I liked, I really liked, and the tracks I didn't like, I really didn't like. I can't see myself ever coming back to the album in full, but I'll be damned if Warped #24, The Frog That Wished To Be, A Little Blackout, and Yeti don't get frequent plays from me in the near future. This thing passes, but not by a lot. It's close to being right in the middle, but it has enough of a unique identity and explores some really interesting areas which won me over enough for me to say that I like it more than I dislike it.