Menomena

Mines City Slang ****

MinesCity Slang ****

It's indie, Jim, but not as we know it. This Portland, Oregon trio bypass the usual verse-chorus-verse song structure by using a Digital Loop Recorder (or Deeler for short) to layer ideas and make cut-and-paste collages that sound strangely strange yet oddly congruent. Danny Sein, Brent Knopf and Justin Harris build their tunes on stampeding drums, dramatic piano lines, sawn-off guitar lines, subterranean saxes, synths, bells and whistles, then tear them all apart again. Queen Black Acid, Boteand Five Little Roomsare, emotive, disturbing and invigorating math-indie mini-operas, packed with more ideas than you can shake a slide-rule at. Who do they sound like? Everybody and nobody. Menomena.com

Download Tracks:Queen Black Acid, Bote, Five Little Rooms

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist