Menomena– I Am the Fun Blame Monster
Label: FILMguerrero
Style: Progressive, Indie, Post Rock
Released: 2004
My Grade: 4 stars
AMG: n/a
Sounds like: Blur, Radiohead, Portishead (ed. note: they do not really sound like those bands, but they are the closest comparisons I can find)


These guys really think they are clever, their album stops and starts at so many random turns the listener is kept perpetually confused. This trio from Portland has built around them a powerful music machine (partially based on a computer program written by one of the members) that if it survives to the next album will go down in indie music history as being an exemplary new take on progressive (or post-) rock.

The standout track, if you can find one, would be “Strongest Man In The World” – opening with a keyboard drone that grabs your musical soul and rips it to the hereafter, halfway to the end this track inspires you to keep listening and pay more attention; it stops and goes with such catchy sounds that I am hard pressed to find fault with it, except that it stops far too soon for me. I originally saw it performed live and the album version (although spectacular) does no justice to how great it sounded live, like a consuming fire it knocked me off my feet and inspired me.

I would be hard pressed to not talk about the album case, a clever little book layered so that you can flip through it and watch the band perform, these guys are music nerd in the best sense and it truly shines through on their album and cover design. Something as inexpensive and yet eye catching as a flip book is just what the dying days of album covers need to hopefully push the envelope back.

On occasion their voices actually start to bug me, they just sound so weird when mixed with the music and don’t seem to match up as well, which is probably why I did not feel like they deserved a perfect score.

I would like to think of these guys as performing something that is nearly brilliant, and at times their sound surpasses brilliance and creates this bubble that I get caught up in. A truly fun and inspiring release that showcases just how wonderful this band will be on their sophomore album.


Reviewed by: Samuel Aaron