'SUPER EXTRA BONUS PARTY'
Eclectic and downright weird de-la weird sounds combined with more traditional instruments make up the songs and music on this album that's quite an awakening to the senses. A melting pot of sonic treats, a clash of hip hop with indie pop injected into the equation, plus piercing trumpet solos along with electronic dynamics are the ingredients to the 'SUPER EXTRA BONUS PARTY' cocktail.
This music would be slightly out of place at a wedding and wouldn't be advisable to have in your car if you were one who suffers from road rage! But they have charisma, exotic charm and strange and startling new inventions going on, that give the listener's musical palate serious indigestion! Your granny mightn't like it. But if you have a sense of fun and adventure, you will!
I like the unpredictability of this band and the way they stand out from the crowd.
Featuring vocals from Paul O'Reilly of Channel 1, Nina Hynes, Iain Defector (Kill City Defectors) and Brazilian MC Rodrigo Teles, a collection of tantalizing and exciting experimentation with electronica and percussion, plus dramatic vocals to boot awakens your curiosity from one tune into the next on this groundbreaking album.
To quote the lads themselves, 'High Octane stadium rock anthems' are the special on the menu. I'd better keep the 'Rennie' around!
ADVENTURE This starts with a quiet intro on guitar, and then an unexpected EXPLOSION of trumpets played in harmony come in. Bass, followed by rhythm guitar followed by up-beat and choppy drums with contemporary jazz styled lead riffs, complete this instrumental. Plenty of contrasting sound to colour the scene occurs to get the musical juices flowing!
MUSHIE SHAKE is a really cheerful instrumental with a fast beat. The melody is really sweet with lots of tingly sounds going on. Exciting percussion is added, to create a sound that to me is a little like a steam train puffing along the track! Lovely chords played arpeggio style along with a mechanical repetition of sounds develop this piece to its full potential.
SUPER NOISE There is loads going on here! You won't have any problem remembering the words of this song though. Or for that matter the name of the band who created it! But experimentation is the key factor in this sensational and memorable piece of music and I love the way it builds up and develops. Amazing use of sound, scratching and slippery cut-ups darting back and fourth in the background and the words S U P E R E X T R A B O N U S P A R T Y are sung in a nasal, monotonous chorus. If aliens from some far off planet had a top thirty this would probably be number 1!
DOROTHY GOES HOME Lovely chords take you into this number, followed by an easy tempo. Nina Hynes sings angelic 'ahs' and echoic indistinguishable lines, accompanied by softly played chords and a weird cacophony of floaty strange sound effects. Passionate with haunting, eerie music in the background, there's a sense of travelling on a long journey through time or space. Going home being the theme, it succeeds in giving you a feeling of warmth and you wallow in a happy warm glow as you listen!
EVERYTHING FLOWS This begins with a fast moving drumbeat and wonderfully ballsy lead guitar. Just enough distortion and bending notes here and there give it socks. Harmony in the chorus is sweet as is the catchy melody.
ON THE SKYLINE Female vocals accompanied by harmony and a heavenly bell-like sound gives this number an ethereal style. I like the lively beat here and fresh innocent ambience portrayed. Pretty melody and exciting unpredictability makes this song delightfully different!
Airy sound effects, like birdsong are used in the chorus. 'Fireworks on the Skyline' is chanted and makes you imagine a deep blue sky, with a graceful display of sparkling fireworks in a kaleidoscope of colours as they crackle up into the quiet night breaking the silence.
There's an almost oriental feel to this song as it moves towards its close!
SOFTLY An intro of a soft drumbeat, synthesiser and female voice counting with rhythmic beats tapped out and magical notes played, is how this number begins.
However you are soon taken in a completely different direction as it builds up to Rock anthem level with vibrant fast moving chords being bashed out. Nice guitar chords played in a staccato fashion lend great atmosphere.
Something not unlike a siren develops and before you know it you've witnessed a crazy clash of sounds to wake you up! I love the way the guitar plays a sliding riff and you get a sense of falling or losing altitude in a plane just before the end. This would definitely be fun to dance to!
PROPELLER Lonely notes plucked on a guitar introduce this extremely sweet musical piece. Trumpet joins in as the soulful instrumental moves along. Drums are then added and percussion, to build up to a full, thumping, thunderous crescendo of sound. And you're finally brought to the end of the piece with a return to the original lonely, simple tune you heard at the start! The melody line in this is beautiful and memorable. By far my favourite of the whole album!
SPANIK SABOTAGE is performed by Rodrigo Teles in Spanish. It's a Latino style rap and I find it hard to describe or interpret. However the exoticness of Rodrigo's voice along with lots of synthetic sound and bass undertones, hip hop beat and lots of mixing and experimental melody is certainly NOT boring!
SON VARIOS also performed by the Brazilian MC, is fast and frantic. Space age special effects lend atmosphere and a gorgeous sexy bass guitar by Fatz recovers its appeal to me, one who detests rap!
FAVOURITE THINGS With a sense of urgency about it, this number has some extremely dramatic rhythm and is one of the WEIRDEST concoctions of music I've heard in my life! But my Granny might like the bit with 'Julie Andrews' singing 'A few of my favourite things'!
EROSION I like this number! I feel relieved to hear something other than just instrumentals and raps, with its rock guitar riffs and galloping beat, dramatic chords and nice backing vocals in the chorus. There's a really catchy melody line and a thumping drumbeat that makes it stand out from the other compositions on this album.
DRONE ROCK A fabulous intro with IN YOUR FACE bass notes, an amazing beat and appealing chords brings you into this frenzied display of all that is enjoyable about SUPER EXTRA BONUS PARTY! You hear lots of space age sounds that would make you feel like you were in the middle of a 'Star Wars' movie or something! But despite this craziness, there's a real melody to it.
This is the kind of rhythm that would have you breaking the speed limit if you played it while driving down the motorway! However it's exciting, with loads going on and you know that the lads are going to town to show off they have real musical talent, when you strip away the electronic ski fi stuff to hear what lies beneath!
Angela Macari - O'Looney
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