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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AMAZING, 29 Dec 2006
This album.... I can't believe that this is their debut. Their sound is like nothing I've ever heard before, it is an amazing combination of punk, metal and cabaret, and Dominique's vocal work is just perfect. I would like to point out now that it is an aquired taste - like Marmite, I imagine that you'd either love it or hate it. But no one can deny that this is brilliantly original, intelligent and inventive.
The album opens with the powerful "Spill!", a fast and furious metal song with the hint of organ in the background. Dominique's screaming and atonal singing are just perfect, with powerful drums crashing away in the background. This is soon followed by "Awful Fall", another heavy, powerful song, this time a little more melodic, with some slap bass in the mix.
The mood then changes to the more circus-like feel, with "Filistata" - a dark yet playful song with a funky riff, coloured with an upright bass and an accordion, and varied with some heavy distored guitar. "A Year of Judges" follows, with a similar dark circus feel.
Then the track "So Close" reveals their heavy dance influence, with a watery bass line, heavy triggered drum beat and creepy whispers and screams.
"Swint? Or Sleude?" is a circus song without vocals, and with a great deal of brass and creepy repetition of themes. This track really showcases the band's circus influence, with a heavy, chugging bass line and hints of distorted guitar and vibraphone.
"Mind Your Eyes" and "Tall Tales" are two similar tracks - both have a nice variation of melodic and heavy, scream-filled sections. "Mind Your Eyes" has an amazing middle 8, with an ambiguous time signature (I think it's 3 bars of 3 and a bar of 4; it's hard to tell) and some sexy guitar and bass stabs piercing through the mix.
"Lifeless" is the only slow, ballad-ish song on the whole album. As a song on its own, it's absolutely terrific - a dark, shimmery bell-like sound with Dominique singing a dark, low-register melody. Some may find that it pales into insignificance next to the more powerful songs of the album.
Track 11 is "Push Button", Stolen Babies' opus, the apex of the album. This song is absolutely phenomenal - a thick, funky texture with prominent accordion, funky bass and heavy drums. Dominique's voice is also fairly controlled throughout this song, and the rare outbursts of rage in her voice add to the dark effect. You'll love it; I guarantee it!
"Gathering Fingers" follows; a very unusual, dark song. The song starts off with an accordion pattern and Dominique singing almost carefully and controlled about starting a fight. The texture thickens gradually, and then the mood suddenly changes to a heavier, guitar-laden feel, with creepy dissonance from the brass and guitars, suddenly bursting into a powerful repetition of a crunchy chord, with Doninique's screaming. This is suddenly contrasted with exhausted melodic vocal fragments. Just perfect.
"The Button Has Been Pushed" closes the album, a nod towards "Push Button". It's a short song, only about a minute long. With playful ooh's and dark chanting of the words "pushing pushing...", it closes the album perfectly.
There are so many styles on offer here;
It IS very unusual, but I love it more than words can describe. It's simply phenomonal - a must have for anyone who claims to like "off the wall" music!
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