Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Like some post-modern, punk-kinked take on latter day Steely Dan, L.A.'s Thelonius Monster drops back into the record business after a 12-year recording hiatus with their own, typically off-the-wall take on the rock tribute album boom. It's a gambit that's by turns dizzy fun, pointed satire ("Could it be you're just a haircut and some tennis shoes?" they muse in "The Beck Song") and begrudgingly affectionate nod to inspirations that span Elton John and the Carpenters (a hidden-track cover of "Rainy Days and Mondays" that almost passes for winsome) to noisy, welcome takes of Jeffrey Lee Pierce's Gun Club and L.A. punk pioneers the Germs. The original core of frontman Bob Forrest, drummer Peter Weiss, and guitarist Dix Denny (joined here by 12-year-vet/"new guy" Dallas Don Burnet on bass and longtime band pal/associate Jon Sidel on second axe) shrewdly aim more for friendly evocations than a musical clonefest. That sense weds lyrical obsessions that are either wholly divorced from their inspirations (the stripped-down, Some Girls funk-rock of "Rolling Stones '77 Song" rambles on cheerily about shopping, lunching, and Powerpuff Girl watching in sunny LA) or bluntly focused: "Everybody wants money/That's all they want" grouses "Curtis Mayfield Song," while the jagged perfection of "Joy Division Song" bleats bitterly about punk/new wave sellouts. The Monster shows some true musical affection on this quirky return; obviously, only some of it's been requited. --Jerry McCulley
California Clam Chowder,Thelonious Monster,Lakeshore Records,Alternative Pop/Rock,College Rock,Indie Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop
Rock Music:
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