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Label: Bubblemath
Tracks:
- Miscreant Citizen 4:14
- Be Together 5:35
- Dancing With Your Pants Down 2:56
- She's No Vegetarian 2:46
- Doll Hammer 4:35
- TV Paid Off 3:05
- Help Yourself to a Neighbor 3:23
- Forever Endeavor 1:17
- Heavenly Scared So 3:34
- Your Disease is Nicer 2:51
- Potential People 6:24
- Cells Out 4:43
Musicians:
- Jonathan G. Smith - vocals; electric & acoustic guitars, xylophone, flute
- Kai Esbensen - keyboards & piano; vocals
- Blake Albinson - electric guitar; synthesizers & organ
- James Swensen-Flagg - drums; backing vocals
- Jay Burritt - fretted bass
Bubblemath is a new American band that pops up with desire to eat up the
world, in the current progressive scene. In numerous progressive webs,
already they are qualifying this album as one of the best of the year if not
the best, and Bubblemath as the authentic revelation, and they are somewhat
right.
How does Bubblemath sound? To get a first approach, we might say that
it's a cross between Gentle Giant and Mr. Bungle, or of equal way we
might qualify its style as a crossing between Echolyn, Rancid and A.C.T.
But mentioning these few bands, we remain undoubtedly by half on having
tried to describe the immense merge of styles that Bubblemath practises.
Grunge, funk, new wave, jazz, punk, pop, even a song that looks like an
arrival of the years 50: "She's Not Vegeterian", and of course, progressive
and symphonic rock, all this fused giving place to a vital, intense,
powerful, incredibly varied album, accelerated but without row ending in
careers without limit, besides a good sense of humor, executed by
instrumentalists' compendium of the greatest ones, capable of impressing
ourselves with an aggressive, dirty, virtuous and changeable instrumentation
(what a playing!!), as well as astonishing us with some few passages of
great sensibility. To emphasize also the great work of the different
singers, as well as the excellent vocal-harmonies.
In short, constant rhythm changes, positive energy, power and great
variety of styles, would be the main characteristics of this group, and
mainly innovation, a new way for the progressive rock.
I only can wonder in front of the force, vitality and variety, of tracks as
"Cells Out", "Your Disease is Nicer", "Potential People", "Help Yourself to a
Neighbour", "TV Paid Off", "Miscreant Citizen", "Be Together", or also the more
funky "Doll Hammer" with some very sensitive moments and the mentioned before
"She's Not Vegetarian".
In my opinion one of the best two or three albums of the year, essential.
Rating: 8.5/10
Ferran Lizana
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