Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Review: Untitled Musical Project - s/t


Label: Tigertrap Records

Released: October 29, 2007

Unbridled. Unrefined. Uninhibited. Those can be the qualities of great rock and roll or a complete disaster. Untitled Musical Project is like a band with Keith Moon as every member, so they're clearly the former. Don't get me wrong, they don't play at Moon's technical level, but they do have his complete sense of abandon in their performance. There is little focus on melody or groove. The album works because it's all about visceral energy. It's as if they took Discharge, Gang of Four and just a dash of industrial, threw it in a blender and then recorded the blender! To say the album is deliberate is an understaement. Thick, fuzzy bass, noisy guitars and snotty vocals are driven to the very limit by relentless straightforward drumming. Even the song titles are extreme. "I Don't Need You Honey! All I Need is Rock n Roll!" and "I May Not Be Jimi Hendrix But At Least I'm Still Alive" meet even the high expectations that such titles raise. The latter is particular compelling, because of all the tracks, it has the most melodic elements yet doesn't break stride. In fact, each hint of melody stands out simply because there aren't that many over the course of the album. If Untitled Musical Project has a fault, it's that the songs can't stand on their own. These aren't the kind of songs that you could change up a bit and cover in another genre or sit down and play on your acoustic guitar. Changing the extreme intensity of the performance would rob the music of everything that's great about it.

Rating: 8/10

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