One of my favorite albums, I know, I have too many favorite albums, but really this one is special. I love every track and find it a thought provoking and reassuring album. Why is it an anomaly?
- I usually like a bands first album best
- I usually like most or all of a bands albums when I like one this much
- I can't figure how they wrote and recorded 12 songs that are so amazing and never really repeated it
- Lead vocals are shared by a female and a male singer - I like both equally which is unusual for me
- There are instrumental tracks that are just as good as the tracks with vocals
I never know how to classify this band. I ordered it through the SST catalog if I remember correctly - it was a punk-mostly mailorder catalog anyway. I used to peruse them and order unknown albums based on covers and descriptions. I think I ordered this one mainly because of the mausoleum cover image which made me think of Joy Division's Closer album cover.
Listening to it the first time I was kind of gobsmacked. I didn't know what to make of it - I thought in some regards it sounded like a kids record (not in a bad way). It had a simplicity to it on many tracks but it also was rich in elements, diverse in sound and therefore complex too. A Thousand Lights was my favorite track for a long time as it sounded most like something I might hear on college radio and it was the most attractive track to play for friends when introducing them to my new acquisition.
I would say this album is sandwiched between post-punk and synth-pop. It has a grand melancholia running through it yet there is a brightness and hopeful outlook to it as well. I think it is a unique and exquisite album that far too few know about.
I know there are fans of 17 Pygmies that will probably dislike the fact that I kind of dismiss the rest of their catalog. Sorry. None of their albums are "bad" but none of them reached this standard. I think this album was kismet on an epic scale. 17 Pygmies had a very loose and variable membership. It was chance, luck, fate, karma, magic, and circumstance that brought everything together to make this record what it is. I know this happens/happened a lot in regards to bands that had one or two records - or maybe just an EP or single even. I think it is much rarer that a band pulls a rabbit like this out of their hat after a couple of previous releases and quite a number of following releases. I for one am glad it exists and am thankful for all those involved in it's making.
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