KRKONOSE

Before they were Zail, Sam Arnold and John White released this full length post-rock album as Mountain Men Anonymous on what I assume was an indie label. I found it as an Amazon download. The most interesting thing about the album is that, unlike most post-rock bands I’ve heard before, these guys make almost all their music using various synthesizers as opposed to ‘real’ instruments. The results are mixed.

For one thing, the production isn’t the best in the world. In fact, at times it actually sucks. I don’t know anything about the circumstances of the recording sessions, but the closest thing quality-wise that comes to mind are the 4-track and often muddy records that Flying Saucer Attack put out in the mid- nineties. The big difference here is that Mountain Men Anonymous seem to have spent their youth listening to more hip-hop and lipstick goth than they did progressive rock, as the drum tracks and gloomy riffs on tracks like “We Stole Your Rhyming Dictionary” and “Weep” attest.

There are a few interesting moments, most notably the lengthy closing song “If All Else Fails” where the band builds patiently toward a droning climax with undecipherable chanted vocals that are creepy in a way I suppose the band intended.

But for the most part I can’t really get past the really poor recording quality and sparse production. These guys might have a few novel ideas when it comes to innovative music, but they fail to show much of it here. And considering the band is on an official ‘hiatus’ and have suspended their website, I suspect this is the first and last anyone will hear from them. This is a record that deserves acknowledgement as a post-rock offering on the waning edge of the genre, but if anything I think it serves as notice that this style of music seems to have finally started to play itself out. Two stars since hardcore fans of the genre will find it to be collectable simply because of the unusual instrument choices, but not particularly recommended to anyone else.

peace