On the USA is a MONSTER’s last release, 2005’s Wohaw, the duo smelt their socio-political messages in their most diverse amalgam yet, augmenting their whirlwind rock with rustic excursions on their way to seventy minutes of music. Their efforts were laudable, and weren’t unsuccessful, but Wohaw, like a primitive air machine, seemed never to fully get off the ground, a victim of its own bulkiness. The band’s latest, Sunset at the End of the Industrial Age doesn’t suffer from such problems; it’s a streamlined (well, as streamlined as these guys’ angular writing gets) effort, easily digestible, though still chock full of the fluorescent aural roughage that the USA is a Monster have always provided for the benefit of their listeners’ musical diets.
“The Greatest Mystery” throws down the gauntlet at the album’s opening, but the title track, which follows, is the real killer. The track clocks in at thirteen minutes, encapsulating the many sides of the USA is a Monster’s ragged hippie prog in a single swoop. From this zenith, the album continues effortlessly, rolling with a momentum that’s not interrupted by the bumps and turns that Colin Langenus and Tom Hohmann have always built into their careening melodies. It’s not that Sunset at the End of the Industrial Age isn’t without its quieter moments, but, unlike Wohaw, the more placid segments of the album feel more organic, natural parts of the music’s progression, even Langenus’ strained crooning and frazzled rant on “It’s a Beautiful Thing (I Like My Oranges Peeled for Me).” The USA are a Monster have always been a band built on blind curves, unexpected bumps, and a healthy willingness to utilize simple melodies when needed, and, at their best, the duo make music that packs progressive thought into a distinct brand of rock music that’s far smarter than its exterior might let on.
The USA is a Monster’s message is one of the fall of society, but these two are fan from pessimists, and with drums, a guitar, and a synthesizer, Hohmann and Langenus preach their scripture one twisted hook at a time. There’s a simplicity in the duo’s music that shouldn’t be ignored, for, at its core, Sunset at the End of the Industrial Age engages the listener in the spirit of vintage folk music, albeit in a far more fluorescent manner. This is music with a message, and music that speaks directly to the people, and for all their aural acrobatics, the USA is a Monster are, at heart, sincere agents of change. Rather than eschew modernity, they use it for their own means, and look straight ahead. The USA is a Monster aren’t afraid of the future, they look forward to the positives it will bring. And, if their prophecy is true, and human civilization is in for some severe changes, when we end up in a world that echoes the post-apocalyptic realm of Mad Max, I can imagine that the USA is a Monster will fit in just fine.
