Mr. Gnome

Deliver This Creature

Written by: PP on 25/06/2008 15:45:34

Ohio, USA based Mr. Gnome\'s debut album \"Deliver This Creature\" is a reviewer\'s nightmare. Its intense complexity, which even after ten listens leaves the listener slightly confused about all the different dimensions and levels in their sound, makes its review impossible to be delivered on time, and a damn time-consuming job to do. Those who have followed this magazine in the past know how many album reviews we spit out weekly, and any delays to that pattern usually mean month-long implications to how timely the remainder of our reviews are. But such is the tough life of a reviewer, lets get into the review, shall we?

Imagine Death From Above 1979 partnering with Massive Attack. The resulting sound would probably be very close to Mr Gnome, an eerily beautiful trip-hop atmosphere with soft (yet complex) indie rock tendencies complementing. Basically, a lot of noise without the denotation usually attached to that word. Beautiful, seemingly endless arrangements, topped by a dreamy vocals from the band\'s two members (male & female). What makes the sound even more impressive is that Mr Gnome is a duo, because the sound they produce should realistically come out of a six-piece.

There are intensely psychedelic, trippy moments, which suck you entirely into the Mr. Gnome world, and to counter that, there are aggressive passages where it feels like the band is trying to ram its sole guitar into your ear without chopping it apart first. What I\'m trying to get at here is that the album is unpredictable as hell, because one moment you\'ll be listening to a simplistic indie rock act (\"Silhouette)\", and the next moment you\'re wondering if Josh Homme & co jumped behind the instruments at their most chaotic moments (\"Thief\"). You might even find yourself thinking about the unmatchable beauty of Portugal. The Man arrangements during one of the album highlights, \"Night Of The Crickets\".

And yet it\'s all tied together. Despite Mr. Gnome spreading themselves wide across the musical spectrum, all songs sound like they were written by Mr. Gnome. Few bands have achieved as sonically perfect sound as Mr. Gnome on \"Deliver This Creature\". They\'re just on their debut album, and already have a distinct signature sound. Are they the next Portugal. The Man or Massive Attack? It\'s highly possible.

7

Download: Night Of The Crickets, Thief, Pirates
For the fans of: Portugal. The Man, The Sound Of Animals Fighting, Death From Above 1979
Listen: Myspace

Release date 06.05.2008
El Marko Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.