ADOPT A MONKEY

I love reviewing albums from bands from places that are not actually known for making progressive rock. One of them is Iceland, a country with an iconic electronic-pop singer/musician, but a country with not so renowned but great acts such as Caterpillarmen. If you are curious enough, I invite you to get their albums via Bandcamp, in the pay what you want mode. That's how I got this one, which is their debut album released in 2010 and entitled "Adopt a Monkey", which consists of six compositions that make a total time of 38 minutes.

This band delights us since their first track, with the curious title of "Sexy Shit in my Brain but Piss in my Ass". The music borders in the RIO, avant-garde with some rock and even symphonic elements, and with an inherent ironic, yet funny sound in some moments. I like the raw, strong sound of the bass and how it is accompanied by a softer keyboard scheme; the vocals also play an important role here.

"Ode to Aleister Crowley" starts soft with a gentle and friendly keyboard sound, later it makes an explosion and a new structure is being built. The keyboards don't disappear, and now they are complemented by drums, bass and vocals. After three minutes there is a change, a moment of thinking, a passage of suspense.

"Noe the Man Can Can Can't Not Cat" starts with only a guitar playing repetitive notes, later bass and drums join. The music reminds me of Gentle Giant in moments, later with the vocals I cannot help but thinking of the early Pink Floyd, in the Barrett era. This song is nice overall, however I feel there are some weaker moments where I lost interest a little bit, in the final minute it returns to its best form, and finishes like that.

"Cloverhead" starts with a bass, later vocals and keyboard create that funny and ironic sound (here is where I answer Zappa, does humor belong in music? Yes) The symphonic sound is evident here due to the keyboards, in moments reminding me of some of those 90s-00s Nordic bands.

"Idle Hands / Monkey See Monkey Do" is the longest track here with 11 minutes length. The first two minutes have vocals, a slow rhythm with nice drums and strings. Later there is a minute of silence, and then little by little new elements are added by keyboards, creating a brief spacey moment. After four minutes the best part arrives when a chaotic, fast and explosive symphonic-RIO sound is implemented, this brief moment might actually be my favorite from the whole album. Later the song continues, with different mini-passages and an attractive structure. The last track is "End Now", just a 40-second intense piece with a repetitive rhythm and nice sudden changes.

A nice debut from these Icelandic men, though it is not a truly memorable album (sorry if I am being harsh) it is good without a doubt, so as I mentioned earlier, if you can, go to their site and get their music. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!