Thump. Whap! Thump. Whap! (Ba-Da-Bum-Bum)
Thump. Whap! Thump. Whap! (Ba-Da-Bum-Bum)
Thump. Whap! Thump. Whap! (Ba-Da-Bum-Bum)
Thump. Whap! Thump. Whap! (Ba-Da-Bum-Bum)
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha-ha! Ha! YEAH! [Cue Synth]
So begins Codename: Rondo, the fourth studio album from Ghostland Observatory. Wow. Wasting no time, the duo jumps right in with a heavily synthesized glitch-glam gem. Vocalist Aaron Kyle Behrens’ voice wavers with electronic garble, and the perfectly simple and catchy “ah-woo-hoo” hook is sure to be hummed by many a listener.
Ghostland has never been labeled anything resembling an organic/roots band, and that trend continues here with an even stronger dedication to digital experimentation and, well, weirdness, than anything in their catalog to date. Although the entirety of Codename: Rondo was not able to match the brilliance of the opening track (and occasionally completely misses the mark), this band has earned the right to be heard out fully (even if everything isn’t fully understood).
The most striking bit of strangeness on this album manifests itself as the fourth track, “Codename Rondo.” As author Bill Simmons once said about Sacha Baron Cohen’s performance in Talladega Nights, I could have a million years to think about it and still not be able to decide if it works for me. Make up your own mind on this one. I still haven’t made up mine.
The duo tries for a (mostly) instrumental track with “Time,” but much like the second act of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, the absence of the strong main character (Drill Sergeant Hartman and the aforementioned Behren) leaves the audience listless (if not bored). The next track, “Mama,” is by far the weakest on the album. If Ghostland Observatory was an eighties hair metal band, this would be their “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” and yes, that’s meant as an insult. Fuck Poison. There, I said it.
</bitching about the few things that I didn’t enjoy>
<glorifying this album>
</HTML jokes>
There is SO much to love about this album. We’ve covered the wonderful first track. “Give Me the Beast” might be the strongest and most single-ready song on the album…or so I thought until I heard “Freeze.” On a scale of 1 to David Bowie, this lands somewhere between MGMT and 98.34. Notice to trendy dance clubs selling Tecate tall boys: check the EQ and queue up this track immediately. Doing his best Freddy Mercury, Behren anthemically croons, “The night is young, let’s have some fun, it’s time to hit the floor.” Trust me: it’s damn near impossible NOT to while this song is playing. The album ends with a schizophrenic track called “Kick Drum Speaker.” A melancholy piano riff plays behind a looped sample of the famous DECtalk DTC01 (of Radiohead and Stephen Hawking fame) repeating the title of the track. Although the vocal sample never changes, the instrumentation changes every 20-25 seconds for a solid five minutes – a great and representative way to end the album.
Conclusion? Where we’re going, we don’t need a conclusion. We just need these words from the third track: “The future’s like the weather, baby; there ain’t no guarantees.”
