Flushing together a confounding mix of metal, prog, salsa, and you-name-it is not the recipe for distinctness a lot of bands expect it to be. “We don’t really sound like anything else out there,” is, 9 times out of 10, a blatant lie from bands who cite belligerently divergent influences; a harbinger of indecisiveness more than breadth.
No so with Ideamen. Far better than jerking themselves off with what they have Frankenstein’d from across the rock spectrum, each song is another, “Why didn’t I think of that first?” moment for songwriters listening in. Catchy as hell too, even when they’re shredding balloons with a wood chipper. ‘Know the Dance’, for example, makes you wonder why salsa and shred-metal haven’t been partnered before as a matter of course.
The Ideamen ep Progress, from the folks that also brought you Soulvasq and the Gwen Mitchell Experiment, collects five tracks too accessible to go unnoticed, and too urgent to be disregarded. The juxtaposition of styles and frequent dynamic shifts court being a little too abrupt, but maintain a giddy arc that neither burns slow, nor too hot. The Chicago-based quintet could have made simpler songs to effectively convey its lyrical message, but the energy of Dave Solar’s vocals (surpassed only by his rubbery, comfortably awkward stage presence), and the piano and synth-heavy arrangements do the perfect job of conveying the feeling of watching priests and politicians hurl poo at each other. ‘Cavity’ is especially effective at creating a cartoony space that’s far from goofy, and mixing kazoos and stoner-rock riffs don’t sully the keen lyrics, but give phrases like, “You’re either with us or against us,” the appropriate absurdity they deserve for being spoken earnestly by humorless pundits.
A few jaded listeners might not like how accessible AND good are Ideamen, because a band with such a penchant for the complex should be spending their time bending minds and to hell with tapping toes, right? Well, who better to rattle a few cages than an aggressive dance band from somewhere between hell and Wally World?
Ideamen plays the Double Door on Wednesday, October 3, doors open at 8 PM.
3 Comments »
Jaded listeners who don’t like to have a good time can get stuck!
d’z nutz is the name of a reknowned charity for children under 10 that have tourettes.
they came up with the name themselves.
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Comment by hotshotrobot — October 2, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
Wtf. Is “D’z Nutz” the name of a BAND?