The music here is pleasantly straightforward -- a sort of jangly sixties psychedelic-pop type of thing, cheerily augmented by analog keyboard (or perhaps it's an organ, I don't know). It's upbeat and catchy from the first strains of "My Orange Neighbor", but once the oompah-rhythms of "Smiling Everywhere" make themselves audible you realize that you're not dealing so much with authentic retro-pop as with a highly self-aware, tongue in cheek simalcrum. The result is melodies like "Darlene's Castle", a friendly affair in which squelching keyboards, dubious horn samples and plenty of reverb are sculpted into a towering mass of sonic convection confection. For a change, we get to hear analog keyboards played note by note rather than being used to create layers of sustained drone. Hidden between the notes are elements of country and punk, and the definite urge to be one of those bands that gets on stage and jams for hours at a time. There's even a long, trippy, synth-heavy bonus track to round off the listening experience. If you've ever wondered what a Stereolab/Bevis Frond collaboration produced by Syd Barrett would sound like...well, you should seek serious help, and when you've been released from treatment, pick up this CD and begin the damage anew.
Congratulations Fruit The Brain Thief CD
			Review by

---