It's sort of a running joke here at The CD Project that, despite my best intentions, any mention of Monkey House contain a comparison to any number of bands that influenced the group. However, in this blog's previous MH post (Remember The Audio, back in 2022), I wrote "Monkey House have fully realized their very own unique sound" and today I'm going to double down on that statement. Here is a beautiful series of adult contemporary melodic pop songs that are immediately recognizable as Monkey House, complete with bandleader Don Breithaupt's characteristic cadences, instrumentation, and production. And those close vocal harmonies throughout? Goosebumps. It goes without saying that performances by the band and guests are first-rate from start to finish.
My initial reaction to the album was that it had too many midtempo tunes and ballads. I thought it needed a few more upbeat, grooving tunes such as 2019's Shotgun or 1999's North, the latter being one of my all-time favorite Monkey House tunes. But as I spent more time with the music and let it simmer a bit, I started to appreciate it more and more - repeated spins proved worthwhile.
If you're a morning person like me, you know it's rare to stay up past 9 or 10 PM. But on certain nights, the wife and I go to a concert or for a three hour dinner or late night cocktails or some such. On these occasions, I've usually caught my second wind, get home between 11 PM and midnight, and am too wound up so I can't get to sleep until after 1 AM (first world problems, I know). Anyhoo, on such a night recently, I was making the trip from downtown and happened to play this album and found it to be well-suited for winding down after an evening out. I fell asleep immediately upon returning home although the mezcal old fashioneds I slurped up might have had something to do with that. But the album's sequencing is perfect, ending with a ballad that's unlike anything I recall hearing from from the band. Chef's kiss.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: Normally I give MH albums a track-by-track breakdown, but that usually leads to group comparisons. So to avoid that temptation, I'll countdown the album's twelve tracks according to my personal preference. Note: a low ranking does not mean that I dislike the tune - there's nothing skippable here.
- Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
- Someplace On Madison
- Bring The Stars Down
- Chasing The Muse
- Feeling You Breathe
- Friday Night Jam
- Crashbox
- What's Left Of This World
- Sundaying
- Return Of The Mayfly
- You Just Don't Know It Yet
- Disappear In Plain Sight
I pre-ordered the album so I could get a bonus track, Moving In Time. Sadly, said bonus track was download only and not included on the CD. So I don't offer any opinion on the tune other than to comment that I'm totally opposed to download only tracks. [insert my usual rant about anti-physical product bias here]
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
Previously revisited for the blog:
Remember The Audio (2022)
Friday (2019)
Left (2016)
Big Money: Singles, Remasters, Rarities, 1992-2005 (2005)
Also:
Just Passing Through: The Breithaupt Brothers Songbook, Vol. II (2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment