Review Summary: Cheezies and Gum... an overly Canadian collage involves more than meets the eye.
Simply going for clicks and pop--clap the kits, pop the Bass, fill the Sax, fool around the keyboards--leaves us with a guitarist who despite his young age seems musically sound when bringing the pieces together. As a result, these Canadians molded nicely--Ã* la papier collé--and without much rustle, so that the first word of this paragraph can be viewed as a flattering connotation.
Enter more Canadians, vocalist Johnson (Martha the first, who occasionally hits the correct clavier) with the backing of a second Martha (Ladly, who also thinks she can blow the trombone) and this band, much to my surprise, hits the mini jackpot. Nah, I'm not necessarily referring to the hit single opener "Echo Beach". Namely, Martha and the Muffins manage to toggle between seemingly incompatible clusters of theme & music without sounding awkward. More importantly though, and in contrast with a lot of--circa 1979--so called "art bands", without acting too grave about the whole deal.
Sneak peek:
She will sometimes use sketches, albeit pre designed, in order to stand her ground against the manipulative type. Then declares, that if she were decisive, she could finally decide, and just when you think you're being mocked--they will throw in a meticulous travel guide to "Saigon" or the panic driven "Terminal Twilight", which in turn states that the Muffins aren't just arty and this album twists, plus, the sax solo proves that the bearer has been secretive as he actually wants to be a guitarist in-disto, or if he had to blow through something: let it be the gum leaf.
In essence, a collage of catchy, purposely straight forward--at times even corny-- then enigmatic, with sparks of drama and a lot of wit, probes us to "Cheesies and Gum", which is overly abstract, hence I can't be certain...
Is it:
a) A Canadian meta proposal--courtesy of W.T. Hawkins Ltd.--concerning snack breaks and dental care?
b) A muzzy verbalization of Toronto's metro area or the album's cover art?
c) The simple fact that this bunch sticks?
...yet, I'd probably go for:
D) The apt s/t that should have been, for they sound exactly like that.
