-
-
Ad Space
(728 x 90)
Bon Jovi, the Breeders and Sonny Rollins will never walk into a bar together
Published on 6/30/08
Video
Genesis fans bummed that Peter Gabriel won’t be joining the band for its reunion tour this summer should console themselves by checking out Portland, Oregon’s Menomena. On the follow-up to its blog-buzzed 2003 debut, I Am the Fun Blame Monster, this brainy power trio taps into the infectiously experimental spirit that drove early-’70s prog-rock landmarks like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Even before you put on Friend and Foe, you know the guys in Menomena are prog sympathizers, because the unofficial fourth member of the group is a piece of software: Deeler, a computer program written by multi-instrumentalist Brent Knopf, who calls the app a “glorified guitar-loop pedal.” Knopf and his bandmates create patterns with Deeler that become foundations for new songs; the technique gives their material a rhythmic thrust unusual in indie rock, where groove isn’t often in the heart.
As on those old Genesis records, the tunes on Friend and Foe seem to go everywhere all at once (tender piano ballads, for instance, have a habit of morphing suddenly into big-drum rockers), which means the record demands close listening to make sense of the music. But Menomena isn’t disinterested in melody or accessibility, as the band’s alignment with Seattle guitar-pop label Barsuk suggests. There’s order to the chaos here.—Mikael Wood
Menomena plays Bowery Ballroom Wed 28.
