Quite a long album that does an excellent job of holding the distance through atmosphere progression. 1-10 is a series of very dancy, bass led, disco almost tracks but with post-punk instrumentation+prominent bass riffs for days+crazy brass with variying degrees of boogie and a number of certified booty shaker jams, with vocals (6,9) or not (10). The vocals here won't suit everyone as they feel almost borrowed from a wholly different genre, but I do find they work in a cool way on the whole. 8's more melancholic vibe matches the artwork perfectly. Starting with 10, the album begins a long descent into a much more restrained, weirder, sadder almost angle. This is very gradual, as 11 is still groovy, 12 feels like a spaghetti western standoff, 13 has some vocals, 15 hints at lighter vibes again near the end, etc. It's not all just gloom from there on, but it's mostly gloom. And weirder stuff, but certainly not constant which makes it not boring. I do wish they came back to the more explosive vibes of the early album, especially after 16 which feels quite long, but I guess if you jam 18 which is an alternate 3 then you do get a pretty good ersatz of such a conclusion. Despite this gradual decline in energy which tampered by enthusiasm somewhat (not too much as it remains good moozak), this is an impressive album with some Minutemen disco swagger that you should check. Members of Ludus too! 3.95
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