John Schmersal (of the late, great Brainiac) has dropped his latest album
(courtesy of his new home, Touch and Go) into my lap. He (along with a few other people, like Rick Lee of Skeleton Key) goes by the name Enon and over the last few years, they have released a handful of singles and two albums (one proper, the other self released).
To give a little background on where Enon get their roots, let's go back 10 or so years when John joined Brainiac. When he did so, he took their odd new wave-rock and gave it claws. His first appearance was on their second album, Bonsai Superstar, which I tend to think is their best album. Though their "career" was cut short by the death of singer/mastermind Timmy Taylor, I find it hard to imagine that they could have bested it anyway. John's distinctive guitar style and (by the time they recorded their final EP, Electroshock for President) love of mangled instruments of electronic destruction were a huge part of what made Brainiac the band they were. So, it's no surprise that his post-Brainiac efforts have had a good deal of Brainiac's blood running through their veins.
The opening track, "Old Dominion," could have easily fit in on their album
Believo!, and it serves as a reminder of who Enon are and what they will be building upon for the album. "Count Sheep" introduces a synthesizer and is a display of just how much the songwriting has improved since Believo!, which fell a little flat without solid songs to carry the strangeness. The most notable addition for this album is first heard on the third track, "In This City." This is the presence of Toko Yasuda (ex-Blonde Redhead). The counterpoint and feminine delicacy that her vocals bring to the mix lend depth and some variety. This is good because Enon's music is somewhat manic, and if there are fifteen tracks that are all crazy and scatterbrained, they start to sound the same, and don't seem so odd anymore.
Well, Enon don't really go too far into the bizarre and unexpected. If the right video were made to accompany one of the catchier songs ("Natural Disasters," "Disposable Parts," or "In This City") I think they could succeed on MTV where Ladytron didn't quite catch on. So, while it's definitely an odd and pretty weird pop album, it's still pop, and it's very digestible.
The occasional closeness to Brainiac is a constant theme here. Sometimes it works to great effect, like on "Disposable Parts," where John's computerized vocals fit the song perfectly. Other times it's a distraction such as "Native Numb" where a similarly digitized voice smacks of Hissing Prigs in Static Couture if it had been recorded by a band with much less ambition. "Pleasure and Priviledge" is dead-on Brainiac. John's voice is less urgent and more detached than Timmy's ever was, but the same kind of dissonant guitar line, pounding drums and slight punk anger comes through nicely.
The title track throws a curveball when it deviates from the instrumentation found on every other track of a rock band with a drum machine and synthesizer. A lounge ballad with viola, tuba, tenor sax, organ, and acoustic guitar, "High
Society" shows that Enon are genuinely bizarre. This track clears the palette (albeit a little late in the album, being the second to last track) for "Diamond Raft" which has a piano part that sounds very vaguely like a slowed down version of the verse of The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus." Or maybe it just captures the same psychedelic, hazy pop feel that The Beatles mastered so well on Magical Mystery Tour... who knows? In any case, it's a very nice and pleasing way for the album to end.
I hate to have made so many comparisons to Brainiac, but it's just John's style. It's not at all contrived, and it's just easy to point out and criticize, since his style isn't nearly as caustic as it was in Brainiac, so it sounds a little lighter, and far more radio-friendly. But, looking past that, this is an infectious, fun, and well-written album. It's too bad he didn't do Enon first so it wouldn't be dwarfed by the immense accomplishments of his old band in a similar type of music. Then again, maybe if Brainiac would have continued, the may have gone the way of Girls Against Boys and I'd be writing about how I wish they'd stopped before signing to Elektra and releasing a horrible major label debut. Maybe then I would have welcomed some catchy, slightly odd (and good) pop.
|
