Review Summary: The Exotic Animal Petting Zookeepers want peace and quiet...
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo are without a doubt, one of the most compelling “what if” stories in the history of modern metal. With a formula that hasn’t been seen before or since, the lightning in that bottle crashed loudly and radiated brightly until… it didn’t. In 2012, the band recorded a well-received Audiotree, and then without a statement, an explanation, or so much as a peep, vanished. Now, a scant 12 years removed from the last EAPZ effort, the brothers Carr have returned with
Spy Balloon, an effort to explore their more mellow predilections without all that harsh angular nonsense of their former project.
Spy Balloon is essentially an album of all the floaty, esoteric bits of EAPZ which added the lush textures that comprised a vital part of the band’s sound. On paper, a great idea. It was these flourishes that gave EAPZ staying power and provided the cream for their scene’s crop so a full length of these ideas should be most welcome. But alas…
Now, the execution of
Spy Balloon’s theme is well done. The music is moody, with an almost haunting quality to the production that communicates its intention extremely well. Opener “Where Serpents Began” greets the listener with a warm running bass line and vocalist Brandon Carr’s lilting lines that set the tone for the album, for better and for worse. While Carr’s vocals do a fantastic job gliding over the omnipresent reverb and adding to the dream-like quality to the music, he displays a noticeable comfort within his register that detracts from a few songs. Tonally,
Spy Balloon explores some decent ground within their theme, with cuts like “Juicy and Warm” exuding a (dare I say) downright sexy vibe to “Pilot of Some Small Night” doing a great job of building tension to a satisfying conclusion. Both these tracks showcase
Spy Balloon at its best, when the guys inject a little energy into their formula.
Unfortunately,
Spy Balloon settles too readily in repetitive elements that keep the album from really sticking in the mind. “Gaps” is a great example of this, while on one hand it’s a structurally interesting song eschewing a traditional chorus, it’s hard to keep its positive elements in your mind after more than a few listens of the monotony of the lyrics and instrumentation. In fact, apart from album highlight “Pilot of Some Small Night,” the final four tracks are almost painfully lethargic, in particular “Dear Avoidance” which is simply put, a boring acoustic track dressed up in washed out grey tints for a mood. Despite the pacing problems,
Spy Balloon never loses track of its atmosphere. From beginning to end, it’s a dusk-laden dream that sets the listener firmly in its world with every listen. But it’s this stubborn vision of slow-burning melancholy that keeps
Spy Balloon from any lasting impact, its final impression being that the Carr brothers were perhaps trying too hard to eschew the music of their past. Ironic really, since the theme and ideas of
Spy Balloon are what brought EAPZ its texture, the theme and ideas of EAPZ would have paid
Spy Balloon back in spades.
