I’ll admit that I’ve never seen an episode of The Venture Bros. But I am a longstanding fan of the work of J G Thirlwell, the man behind the many incarnations of Foetus, plus Wisebloood, Manorexia, Steroid Maximus and an almost infinite array of other guises. And having played his music to many unsuspecting friends over the years, I’ve often heard it said that his music has filmic, soundtrack qualities. And it’s true: while producing some serious bloody noise at times, much of his work has all the trappings of big soundtrack music, and you can’t help but wonder that if he didn’t insist on calling himself Foetus, he’d be immense. And so having this musical maverick score a cartoon was a sharp move.
You don’t need to know The Venture Bros to appreciate this score. That isn’t to say it doesn’t sound like soundtrack music: it absolutely does. And therein lies the beauty of this album.
It’s epic, huge, and shifts moods in the blink of an eye. It’s got pounding drums and orchestral strikes in abundance, not to mention massive horns and, well, the lot, really. Thirlwell’s always demonstrated a capacity for the immense, the incongruous, the warped, the crazed, and, above all, the ability to shift style and mood within a single bar – from classical to industrial guitars and cacophonous racket in no time at all, even melding the two into the same moment. ‘The Venture Bros’ is a perfect vehicle by which Thirlwell demonstrates his versatility and canyon-sized musical vision. What he’s created is a fast-paced musical voyage, rammed with unexpected twists and turns. The man’s attention to detail and remarkable compositional skills contrive to ensure that there isn’t a dull moment or a missed opportunity during the course of this album, which is non-stop action all the way. Put simply, it’s a work of genius – as we’ve come to expect of Thirwell by now.
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