Menomena
Mines

THE REVIEW

“Words are important”

The choice of names is too, one might add, especially in the narrow musical field.

The Menomena are not the first, nor will they be the last, to choose names that, due to strange phonetic coincidences, provoke conflicting reactions in our language. The first example that comes to mind is the now-mythical “Cago” of the Dead Man Ray (I swear to you it exists!) But since I don't think the Italian market has ever represented or will represent the Eldorado for non-mainstream Anglophile bands, we can’t blame them for it.

However, such choices can sometimes prove to be winning: perhaps, amidst one porn search and another on the net, some dyslexic big guy in a tank top mistakenly types “Menamelo” and voilà, he finds himself in the magical and crooked world of Menomena!

The third album of our group carries forward, refining and perfecting the discourse left open with the previous and already good “Friend And Foe,” ranging confidently in a vast and colorful chromatic spectrum between quirky pop, yet distinctly personal, and syncopated indie rock.

In fact, for more than half of the album, the tracks not only flow enchantingly and disturbingly (emblematic in this sense is the initial “Queen Black Acid”), but they have the innate ability to etch themselves in the cerebral cortex, thanks to hooks never clichéd but innately “pop” in the best sense of the term. Here, there's something for everyone: “Taos” will appeal both to nostalgics of David Byrne and company, as well as lovers of mid-90s indie-rock, up to those who get into sax like Stax; “Killemall” along with fans of Cliff Burton & co., will appeal to those for whom DJ Shadow in the 90s didn't just sample but played everything himself; “Tithe” will finally thrill classical music lovers with its xylophone intro, and those for whom the latest Fugazi were better than the first.

The references and suggestions are truly many, I'm not listing them all here. If a criticism can be made of the album, it's that its strength is at the same time its greatest weakness: a polyhedric variety so pushed that it risks suffocating a personal style. Which, to be clear, Menomena have, but they should simply compress into songs that are on average shorter and thus in a shorter total duration (it's difficult to make a “pop” album that holds up for 55 minutes these days).

For the writer, a small revelation album of last year.