PLEASE COME HOME...MR. BULBOUS

But I have to say I love PCHMB. In fact for me it wasn't even a "grower", i took to it right from the get go. It's maybe my 2nd favorite KX album after Grechen.

It's an album that has a cohesive personality, you can probably pick out any song from it and realize what album it's from, I'm not sure but I think they tuned down all their instruments for this album and that (or something else) gives it a unique sound, one full of bass and growl yet crystal clear at the same time, I saw them live on the manic moonlight tour and they came out with different instruments for the tracks from bulbous and playing those songs grouped together further convincing me that they tuned down for this record. Ty's producing is top notch here as well as on manic moonlight (another underrated album).

Bulbous is kind of a nutty sideways sort of album, the cover with the light-bulb guy kind of embodies the enigmatic, yet screwy nature of the album. It's pretty dark in spots. The lyrics are elusive in places, but to me that adds to the charm, a lot of head scratching while flipping trough that lyric book.

Also, while Doug is one of the best singers out there, my favorite albums are those where they mix it up vocally, so this works that way for me as well.

FISH BOWL MAN is a crazy track where it seems as though they were just having fun, musically throwing out the rule book, but keeping things dark.

JULIA is a hypnotic song that grabs you and doesn't let go, contrasting slow melodies with aggressive instrumental flashes.

SHE'S GONE AWAY Ty airing his personal experiences maybe? But again the lyric sort of dreamy & hazy, and that "yeah" before the second chorus is a classic live moment.

MARSHMALLOW FIELD Doug sounds great here, his deep voice contrasts great with Ty's voice as they alternate verses before Doug takes it home on the emotional chorus.

WHEN YOUR SCARED The lyric is quite desperate and the melody dark yet there's again this dream like tone throughout, that is till the heavy riffing comes in trading space with some great drum fills from Jerry, before the melody starts back up, I love the ending of it, reminds me a little of the ending of "I'll never be the same" or "we were born..." but slow and lumbering, in a good way

CHARLIE SHEEN with a name like that how can you go wrong? this is maybe my favorite song, please hear it on a good stereo to get the full effect of the pounding bass by Doug & Jerry, but immediately contrasted with Ty's bright and upbeat riffing. Doug starts singing "It all works out" but very much against type then Ty comes in to sing the song's main parts in his own way. I can't properly express how much I love this song.

SMUDGE just very dark, calling forth childhood fears & nightmares, with some heavy imagery thrown in for good measure.

The aptly named BITTER SUITE keeps the darkness train a-chuggin' but in a lyrical way: "killing a bird with a knife, turning away from a life" Ty sings very melodically. The music here is beautiful as well as the harmonies from the 3 singers. But the desperate words stand out in sharp relief. Hope things are going better there Ty.

MOVE ME is the only song that seems out of place here, it actually sounds to me as if it was written years earlier for a previous album. But hey, the riffing and drumming are quite solid so I give it a pass. Also it's rewarding if you stick with it. Maybe they didn't want to end on such a low note with Bitter Suite.

Anyway underrated doesn't even come close to how I feel about this excellent album, to me, it's a classic.

I'd give it more stars, but I'm trying to be objective.

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