ARTIST: Minmae
TITLE: Le Grand Essor De La Maison Du Monstre
LABEL: Greyday Records
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 197kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 54m total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-05-09
RIP DATE: 2006-05-15
Track List
----------
1. Cold Room, So. Pacific 9:37
2. Cold Steel Minders 2:52
3. Once Cocked Gun 5:10
4. Everyone Knows Jesus Wore A 3:57
Chain
5. Where's The Fashion 1:19
6. The Zero Sum 5:55
7. I Was At Johnny's And He Played 2:50
Phil Ochs
8. The Winking Lass 7:53
9. Let It Ride 2:47
10. (To Edit) Quickfingerz 7:19
11. Cash Out (Or Spin) 4:39
Release Notes:
http://www.minmae.com/
http://www.greydayproductions.com/
Minmae pulls no punches with Le Grand Essor de la Maison du Monstre, as the
opening track hits you in the face with over nine minutes of monstrously
blistering fuzz-pop. The remaining 44 minutes and 10 tracks are not always as
blistering, but on occasion the chugging beats and crunchy guitars are paired
with echoey feedback strains, creating some fine music that fits somewhere
between stoner-rock and shoegazing fuzz-pop.
On other occasions, alt-country influences are infused with less dynamic and
more dissonant progressions and less-than-average vocals. None have anything
considered a clever pop hook or glistening melody. Instead, frontman Sean Brooks
and company forge unpredictable and slowly evolving sonic adventures that are
short on pop hooks and long on minor-chord guitar-fuzz. But that is exactly what
makes this pure indie rock in the truest sense. Portland Oregon's Minmae does
not make music for anyone else or for any other reason than to please its
members' own ears. And it's this attitude that has allowed them to churn out 10
albums of original guitar-powered indie rock since 1998.
At it's best, Le Grand Essor de la Maison du Monstre rocks with indie melodies
approaching Built to Spill territory only slightly less intricate with slower
tempos. At worst, the songs never evolve much above a slow, three-chord
progression with little change, as slack and out-of-tune vocals try to carry the
melody. Mostly though, Minmae's creations land somewhere in between. And
thankfully this middle ground is not felt note to note, but from song to song.
So while some songs tip the scales toward elaborate, blissful power-fuzz with
simmering keyboards, others lean toward sparse and tedious alt-country. And
that's what makes this a difficult release.
Tracks like "Zero Sun," "The Winking Lass," the opener "Cold Room, So Pacific,"
and especially "(To Edit) Quickfingerz" are more tuneful and sophisticated, as
layers of treated guitars are interwoven with buzzy keys and frothing bass that
slowly take shape as pleasing patterns of wavy feedback and fuzz where even the
vocals are tolerable. Unfortunately. the tracks scattered among these, namely
"Cold Steel Minders" and "Let it Ride," tend to plod along as a kind of stark,
guitar-based, alt-country/post-rock blend, and while not actually unpleasant -
except for an occasional vocal mishap - they're just not that interesting. Songs
that fall somewhere in between like "Once Cocked Gun," "Everyone Knows Jesus
Wore a Chain," and "Where's the Fashion" tend to be somewhat more alluring,
slowly building up from spacious, effects-laden guitars and bass, sometimes
evolving into searing and resonant shoegazing rock.
It's as though Minmae has purposely produced a piece of work where the music
mimics the life of Joe Average, as the band's unique brand of blue-collar indie
rock represents the drudgery of the workweek that is compensated by the pleasant
diversions of the weekend. With all of its ups and downs, Le Grand Essor de la
Maison du Monstre (The Great Flight of the Monster House?) can be an arduous and
inconsistent listen. But if you can make it through the workweek, you're bound
to have fun on the weekend.