Black Moth Super Rainbow first came to my attention through a split they did with The Octopus Project entitled The House of Apples and Eyeballs. I had pre-ordered that record from Graveface and with it they sent a free t-shirt and some candy which I decided not to eat since I did not really know the circumstances under which it had come to me. I enjoyed the album but had a difficult time finding anyone else who was aware of either of the participating bands; especially BMSR. It was not long, however, before everyone seemed to know them due to their inexplicably popular record Dandelion Gum. I do not say this to indicate that it is of poor quality but to illustrate the surprise that I (and I imagine everyone else) feels towards the concept of such an odd record developing a fan base.
Dandelion Gum is made up of creepy synth pop with inhumanly vocodor-drenched vocals. Despite its synthetic sound, it still manages to preserve a handcrafted fragility which only serves to heighten the strangeness. I actually used the album to score part of my Halloween display a couple of years ago and it worked perfectly.
Maniac Meat is the second solo LP by Tobacco, the lead vocalists of the group. While the unusual and slightly irritating vocal treatment is still in place and these songs can still definitely be referred to as ‘synthetic’, I am surprised to say that I believe this to be a much more accessible record than Black Moth Super Rainbow’s breakthrough.
The ingredient that makes the difference is hooks. These songs are not quite as spacious or meandering as the tracks which make up Dandelion Gum can be. Instead they are tight, nervous and wiry. The beats hit harder and the weird noises are more jarring making for a much more intense and therefore more engaging listen.
The vocal treatment is slightly less annoying than it is on Dandelion Gum because the mix pushes them further back into the songs. In this fashion, the vocals serve more as just another instrument making up the music. There are also two tracks with non-vocodor vocals by Beck but even these are cut-up so that they act more as an instrument than as a means to communicate lyrics.
Just as on the work of Black Moth Super Rainbow, this album has some extremely creative song titles. I am particularly fond of the opening track “Constellation Dirtbike Head” which is immediately recognizable as the work of Tobacco but with a looser sense of fun and a really great use of noise as an auxiliary rhythmic and harmonic device within the composition.
If Dandelion Gum was a little too repetitive for you to see what all the hype was about, Maniac Meat may be a better entry point for you. It distills the best elements of Black Moth Super Rainbow and heightens their effectiveness by cutting out the fat. It is also one of the most fun car albums released so far this year. Definitely worth a listen.
