The Town Monster : Ohio Sessions, April to June.Sounds like synth pop walking down a dark alley. These three EPs, combined into an album, each shows different sides of the rock/prog/electro-rock sound that is The Town Monster. Each EP explores a different musical concept. The three shorts from the April EP are almost entirely electronic and feature a much snappier, more polished sound than the previous EPs. This one treads bizarre yet poppy territory, coming off like a Burlesque/New Wave mashup of Radiohead and Faith No More. "Atari Girl" is a raging beast of a track with multiple layers of bass, synth choirs, and some demented big top rapping. "Stay 4 Tha Night" is a song about being seduced by the devil and features some impressive synth fondling. The final, moody track, "Meet Me in the Forest", was used for the band's first foray into music video and animation, which became a large part of their work in the future. By April the band had realized they couldn't stay in the warehouse for a prolonged period of time and found a new headquarters at Electraplay Studios in Hilliard, Ohio. The May EP sounds a bit like the band has spring fever. The production is brighter and bits of sunshine are beginning to peek through. The arrangements are lighter, too: the main instruments in these numbers are acoustic and electric piano and banjo. The first track is mysteriously titled "The Town Monster (Part Two)" and tells a story of an angel who comes to earth and warns the townspeople to repent...to which they promptly reply by burning him at the stake. By this point it is apparent that the band has grown comfortable taking risks with their music and their presentation of it, but also confident enough to write low-key, folk-inspired songs like the closing track "Onward", one of the best in their catalogue. Definitely an oddball of the group, the June EP saw The Town Monster in a transitional period. This was to be the last they recorded with their excellent former bass player Mike Rana and he is featured heavily here, practically taking lead duties on the only instrumental song in the collection, "1 A.M.". This EP is deep, dark and groovy...syrupy, even. All three are tinged with hip hop beats and further experimentation with pitch-shifted and auto-tuned vocals. The closing track "Oil" was written the day after the historic BP oil spill and wound up being one of the band's angriest, most unique and most universal songs. It helps that it features fantastic lead guitar work by Rob Bradley of Sleepers Awake, as well as samples of the late Professor Longhair, a creole pioneer of rock and roll. Songs:
1. Atari Girl Buy this album for $8: 100% goes to the musician. Download it as MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, OGG or WAV. Using this music in a project? Members can use it under the Magnatune Project Licence. For programs and AI agents: this album as JSON, the Magnatune API and llms.txt.
Release date: 05/05/2013 Tagged as: Alt Rock, Folk-Rock, Prog Rock Recommended albums:
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