Search - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum :: Grand Opening & Closing

Stunningly good avant-rock.

Lord Chimp | Monkey World | 01/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Imagine, if you, can a cross of King Crimon's _Thrak_, GWAR, early Thinking Plague, and the Art Bears (SGM's Carla sounds somewhat like a sweeter Dagmar Krause too) played by demonic midgets ripped on peyote wailing away on a panoply of homemade instruments.Okay...you're part way to what Sleepytime Gorilla Museum unleashes on this album. Truly, this ensemble is in a league of its own and even the above description will only scratch the surface. I love it - currently this is one of the best avant-garde rock albums I have.I will try not to pull a cheap cop-out on the reviewing job with a "this is too hard to describe" line. The music here is wickedly dense and challenging, full of discordant bursts, twisted arrangements, texture to drown in, thick waves of percussion (::gasp::), crashing metal, bewildering contrapuntal interplay, and provocative 20th century classical influences. It's noisy without being abrasive, and challenging without being hard to listen to. Vocals run from sugar-sweet (Carla Kihlstredt) to the throaty male aggressiveness (whoever the lead male voice is). From the spooky-to-crashing dynamics of "Ablutions", the raucous thrashing of "1997", the fractured RIO/indie of "The Stain"... this record oozes ingenuity and brilliance out of every pore. The skeptical may find it tough to take these guys seriously, but this is really quite cerebral and fascinating music. And if you think it's all scary-weird stuff, "Sunflower" is surprising -- just eight minutes of dreamy, sparse ambiance that barely even seems to make sound. Really beautiful but strange. The one-minute "The Miniature" is quite a pretty interlude as well.This is the kind of music that most will hate and few will love. I am one of the few. I would kill to see their live show as everyone who sees it says it is disgustingly good. So I recommend you try and check that out as well even though I can't personally vouch for it. Hwrah! _Grand Opening and Closing_ is an album to pick up -- it could better than anything you've bought lately."

The museum of the future hides the past

Michael Prete | Brooklyn, NY United States | 11/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From rebellious anthems against slumber, inspired pleas to party like it's 1997, to the mottos of 18th century phrenologists, it's all here. But what is it? An aural assault to say the least, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum bombards the ears with fierce angularity and sweet dissonance in their own infectious way. The curators of this museum have strung together an eclectic exhibit featuring a wide array of styles: the crunchy riffs and shouts of "Sleep is Wrong", the thrash metal of "1997", the RIO chamber "Ablutions" or the ambient "Sunflower". While you might have heard all these disparate elements elsewhere, never before have they been combined in the same insanely creative way.

Strange noises abound on the album, made to great use on "Powerless", the opening low frequency notes being coaxed out of what I presume to be Rathbun's amplified spring instrument, not the only homemade instrument put to use here. Both the music and the instruments that help to create it show the same desire for innnovation. Almost all of Moe!'s percussion ensemble is made of trash, banged upon and beaten on. There's even an amplified circular saw blade in his repertoire.

Some comparisons might be apt here: the dense, metallic edginess of mid-period King Crimson, at times the sparse, song based RIO of the Art Bears (and Carla has a strong voice somewhat reminiscent of Dagmar) and more modern avant/RIO like Thinking Plague. But these are just scratching the surface. This is some of the most inspired material to come out this year - "music that not only pushes boundaries but breaks them down with an axe". Well, maybe more like a roto-tiller."

A real soul shattering experience

Blue Collar | Murfreesboro, TN | 11/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album caught me totally by surprise.

Granted, I didn't really know what I was walking into when I picked it up, it was only a recommendation from a friend who listens to good music. Now you won't have to be surprised; just go ahead and get this album.



This band is truly pushing experimental music in new directions. I say experimental, but it's really mostly rock of the progressive kind, very angular and often heavy, but solid. The musicianship of these people blows my mind regularly. From the first off-kilter notes of the first song, "Sleep is Wrong" (a killer tune about growing up) you can tell that they have put a LOT of time into writing, and then a lot more into perfecting their recordings.



There is definitely a lot of metal influence, but I can't call it metal because it is more intricate and even beautiful than any music that calls itself metal. Also could be said to have jazz influence, but mostly in how the music is painstakingly and dynamically arranged.



In other words, this album is hard to describe. But is is sooo damn good.



After seeing this band live I am convinced that in the future we will look back on this band as one who created and personified a whole movement of music; Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are the new Futurists.



I would recommend this album to anyone who appreciates daring experimental music (such as Mike Patton or John Zorn), or to anyone who likes their rock heavy and interesting (like Shellac or Nine Inch Nails), or to anyone at all, ever. This band will command your attention."