THE CIRCLE OF MADNESS

The Montreal group Kaos Moon plays an elaborate form of rock with pop and progressive overtones. Its focus is on the melodic voice of Bernard Ouelette and intricate but warm accompaniment. Nothing clinical here. Ouellette seems to hold most of the cards in the musical area as he plays over a dozen instruments. I am not sure how Kaos Moon got their name but the generally brief instrumental flourishes and irregular harmonies do seem a bit chaotic in nature, generally in a good way.

While "Eternal Light Avenue" and "Say to Me" introduce the style fairly representatively, they are actually somewhat languid and the choruses seem a bit trite. "Crawl", "The Waves" and "Wall of Silence", and the title cut all better represent the band's ability to be accessible yet intellectual musically and lyrically. "The Presidency" does not even bring Bush haters on board, and is just too direct in its messages, substituting political opinion for creativity.

An album I can recommend to the mad or clear thinking as long as they don't mind coming full circle. It will be interesting to track the evolution of Kaos Moon, and I hope they start putting out more than one album a decade.