Just a few months ’til the release of this Stereogum-fave’s third full-length album, and we’re frothy for it. It’ll be Menomena’s first on Barsuk and a welcome return to singing, as sophomore release Under An Hour was really just an instrumental album. And this Oregon-based trio shares those vocal duties (though led by drummer Danny Seim), while covering piano, sax, guitar, bass, drums, and glockenspiels, with the help of Deeler, their Digital Loop Recorder.
The sound is an arty one, but bars of dissonance are later met with pop, blow for blow; best to have an ear patient with thematic development. Hip-hop backbeats give way to open-hat-and-machine-gun-snare rockers, with skronk sax and jagged guitars melting into rolling pianos and sincere (and sometimes goofy) vox.
Their first record was all about versatility and exploration, but these tracks, from the Wet And Rusting EP released last month (a teaser for next year’s record), pull their disparate tendencies together in accessibly tasty treats. Don’t leave here without ‘em.
And these come from I Am The Fun Blame Monster (rearrange those letters and you get “The First Menomena Album”!).
Friend And Foe is out 1/23/07 on Barsuk.
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I am the Fun Blame Monster is an awesome album…they were great live too when I saw them early last year.
I heard Cough Coughing which is fantastic. I downloaded some more and it was positively ‘meh’.
I heart them too.
come back menomena. please.
Stereogum hearts music that sounds like ass then. They opened for the Long Winters in NYC and it was atrocious.
doo dooo do do dooo
“I am the fun blame monster” is an anagram for “the first menomena album”
Mangrilla knows not what he speaks. Menomena is great.
Can we retire “heart” already?
They are a fantastic band & pretty much everyone in Portland is crazy in love with them.
I am a hardcore Menomena fan, but I have to say that Friend and Foe is the biggest disappointment of the year.
Or would that be next year?
As a Portlander, I do love them. I loveth them mightily. One of the most collosal live performances and certainly a tremendous bunch of guys. Friend and Foe only disappoints if you forget that you’re listening to one of the more unpredictable acts in indie music today. It is lovely.
As a Portlander, I do love them. I loveth them mightily. One of the most collosal live performances and certainly a tremendous bunch of guys. Friend and Foe only disappoints if you forget that you’re listening to one of the more unpredictable acts in indie music today. It is lovely.
cheers, baby
http://www.musichawk.com
i’ve heard the new album and i’m not afraid to say i think it’s great. if you’re hoping to listen to something familiar and tired don’t bother with friend and foe. it’s strange. and new. and awesome.
i’ve heard the new album and i’m not afraid to say i think it’s great. if you’re hoping to listen to something familiar and tired don’t bother with friend and foe. it’s strange. and new. and awesome.
i was really disappointed when i first heard the album..but that’s because i was just really confused. after about the fifth listen i fell in love with it, and now im on listen 50 or so..