Menomena revives music with 'Fun Blame Monster'
Greg Walker/ Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/10/05 Section: The Verge
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Menomena is a band that cannot possibly be defined, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. In Menomena's first release "I Am the Fun Blame Monster," they prove that it is possible to be an extremely complicated band, but also be as accessible as anything around.
To describe the sound of a band whose genre is considered to be unclassifiable is not easy. Much has been discussed of band member Brent Knopf's program Deeler that Menomena used on this recording. Supposedly Deeler lets the band improvise more often and take smaller ideas and either loop them or do whatever they feel like with them. It's complicated to understand and not the least bit necessary to worry about.
The sounds you will notice are definitely the very dominant echoing drums of Danny Seim and the haunting piano/keyboards of Knopf. Guitars and bass tend to take a backseat on some of the songs but definitely make their presence felt on the all-out album breakdown of "The Monkey's Back." Knopf's vocals are not the focus of the songs and most of the time they are indecipherable, the purpose is more along the lines of guiding the music along.
The music on "I Am the Fun Blame Monster" is the star of the show. The sounds feel like they are being thrown at you from every which way while being produced by instruments that do not even exist. On the extremely accessible song, "The Late Great Libido," drums pounding in a beat that get your foot tapping echo in and out and then on their re-introduction are accompanied by, what sounds to be, a child's xylophone and a sax, not to mention the dreamy piano.
"E Is Stable" starts out with the looping of a lonely guitar screeching out only to be accompanied seconds later by another guitar and a bass and, again, within seconds are cut off by the pulsation of drums, piano and distorted vocals. Before you know it the drums disappear and the guitars slowly resonate back into the song only to be joined by more drums and sounds that are coming at you at a mile a minute. Once more the music drops and all that is left surviving is the lone piano closing the song off, and you couldn't have it any other way.
There are so many highlights on this album like the ones in "E Is Stable." The menacing organ in "Strongest Man in the World," which goes back-and-forth with the soft piano and sincere sounding lyrics, are another treat. The head-boppingly good finale in "The Monkey's Back" where the angry guitars are let out of their cage for an explosion of sounds is a joy to experience.
Menomena is a rare band that is able to base songs off of improvisation and experimentation and produce results that are insanely catchy and melodic. Menomena does not need classification or comparisons because there really are none. Parts of songs may remind you of other artists but that is as much as you're going to get from Menomena. For those who say that there is nothing new in music nowadays, your prayers have been answered.
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