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BRAINWASHED
V07I18 - 05/09/2004
Meow Meow, "Snow Gas Bones"
Devil in the Woods
The time for the great summer records has arrived,
and Meow Meow have crafted one hell of a good time in their debut,
though it may not seem like it at first. One glance at the album
artwork with exploding flower head, or at the tracklisting with
titles like "The Killing
Kind" and "Sick Fixation," may not reveal this; but
both belie the music found inside, even if they correctly reflect
the lyrical content. Clearly this band loves melodies and musical
trickery — with burbling and static sounds surrounding the
opening song on the album — and there's a firm country influence
that's even more evident when the pedal steel comes in. But all those
pieces together do not ensure that the band knows how to wield them
and shape them into their bidding. Time and time again on their debut,
Meow Meow had me checking websites and discography sites asking "This
is their debut?" Kirk Hellie and Christopher O'Brien are deft
in their songwriting abilities, and their influences in '90s noise
pop and '60s beach rock may be obvious but they still manage to make
some toes tap and some smiles pour in with an originality all their
own. These songs are infused with sunshine and upbeat rhythms but
still have some dark imagery poured all over them. There's laments
about fucking it all up to open the record on "Cracked," then
talk of killing off the cool kid, then talk of leaving people for
dead, and on and on about depressing and deplorable subjects, while
still maintaining enough of a party rock sound to forget about it
all while listening. The noise continues throughout the record, with
distorted guitar, static, and fuzz effects dominating the mix on
most every song. This is the most infectious music I've heard this
year, though, and despite the lyrics venturing far into the morbid
and disturbing, I was in a good mood from beginning to end. - Rob
Devlin
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