Jimmy Weasel - Wednesday, April 23, 2003 - Print Version
Band: Thermadore
Album Title: Monkey on Rico.
Cost: $1.50
Description: The first sample of this despairing disc filled me with hope. “nice, folky-rock” I thought to myself. And the liner notes had surprised me. Rubbing shoulder and maybe other body parts against names as Chad Smith, Rain Phoenix and Josh Freese lead me to believe I was in for muchas aural delights. This is where the merry-go-round breaks down.
The opening track starts dangerously close to country-rock; bemoaning about an impending three day drive home to his woman. The rest of the album is very similar both in content and tonality. All the tracks line up nicely with no outliers; nothing to write home about apart from the embarrassing investment of $1.50 that may have been spent better on foreign booze.
The song “punk rock beating” (not actually a punk rock song) illustrates ones man’s displeasure another man's interest in his girl. “You’re headed for a good old fashioned punk rock beatin’”. Among the perpetrator’s faults is too much phonetime, always breathing through his nose and not paying rent on time. In fact, the word ‘time’ is rhymed ingeniously with ‘time’ on occasions throughout the song. No clarification of the crimes committed, nor the extent of the beating or even proof of anything more sinister than a phonecall; just open threats. The onus should be on the accusatory party to prove this fellow had more than idle chit-chat to warrant such anger.
Another song, namely “Anton” is also a song, not surprisingly, about a gentleman known as Anton. The opening is a repetition of the phrase “Anton was his name”. Within the balladic bridge section, it is revealed that the subject was both always in the way, and with a silly look etched on his face. And then a retreat into the familiar lyrics of the opening, but with a cunning and delicate variation “Anton; just like any other name” repeated with a clinically executed modulation four bars before the fadeout.
Finishing with a cover of Everything’s Alright from Andrew Lloyd Webbers overplayed Jesus Christ Superstar, this album has everything to avoid if calculated and overproduced bollocks isn’t your scene.
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