Dr. Slaggleberry. "Extra Strength Grandma". "Tails Of The Blind Donkey". "Lead Rabbit". What to make of these frankly ludicrous names? And more to the point, what to make of the music?
The tracks, plucked from an XFM session, give vent to proggy, experimental wanderings, free-jazz in style. It's a bastard union of progressive metal and hardcore noodling of a mathematic nature. The only thing more confusing than the bizarre array of words people use to try and describe them is the music itself.
It is, for the most part, a largely tuneless affair. Indeed, there isn't even really an underlying theme to guide the listener through the track. There are tempo changes, reminiscent of a Mars Volta crossbreed and the guitars start and stop. Presumably this is to show us how technically gifted the musicians are. And they are. In their own way. It's just that there is no real sense of any individuality, indeed no tangible difference between the tracks. The only time I know that the number has changed is when the drummer counts the others in at the start. Noise and aggression, screeching guitars and juddering drums they're not lacking in. It's just that there's no real tune.
The band is also tight, never losing sense of where they're going. It's just a shame that they don't really share this sense of direction with the listener. There's nothing to hook you in. You have to like this type of music, this technical virtuosity uber alles, before you switch the CD on. Without a sense of progression or theme, and with melodies non-existent (except in an incessant, rhythmic sort of a way), the CD becomes tiring. There is nothing that you could feasibly call a song. In fact, I'm surprised they bothered with track names. I counted one moment during the entire ten minutes-odd when I looked up. Like the first snowdrops after winter, I spotted what I thought was a hint of a tune. "Tails of the Blind Donkey" was its name and whilst it wasn't anything spectacular, nothing world-changing, it was a change nonetheless. Obviously it didn't last.
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I'm guessing that there are people out there who like this sort of thing. They'll probably accuse me of being a Coldplay fan (heaven forbid), only interested in music that lasts three-minutes and can be used to sell a car. I would argue that that's a bit harsh. But I do like a tune. And I don't like music to be a test of endurance.
http://www.myspace.com/drslaggleberry
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