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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Killemall (Daytrotter Sessions) by Menomena
“Menomena is a band that rewards its listener in more ways than one, with songs that seem to come from minds unable to turn off, given to characters who have been bedeviled by the collisions of multiple forces and those bursts of unscripted waves and waters that strike in flashes.” — Sean Moeller
This Daytrotter Session is likely the last Brent Knopf-involved recordings by the band. Knopf left at the start of the new year but Danny Seim and Justin Harris plan to continue to make music as Menomena. Along with “Killemall,” they also recorded “Tithe” and “Queen Black Acid.” The original versions of all three can be found on Mines.
TitleKillemallArtistMenomenaAlbumDaytrotter Studio 2/28/2011 -
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Menomena - “Taos”
Just to fully explain myself and the songs I post: although I’m a big supporter of indie music, I tend to shy away from the softest, most precious (not always twee) sides of indie pop. I was almost a pure metalhead for about two years (I’ve diversified somewhat, but I still love that music and I’ll still fight for metal to get the respect it deserves) and still gravitate towards the loud and dramatic, be it shoegaze, post-hardcore, hip-hop, or everything-on-10 rock and roll. With that in mind, there are still some straight-up indie pop bands out there that I love for the simple reason that they can write a song like nobody’s business.
So that’s where Menomena comes in. Their last album, Friend and Foe, was an obsession of mine for a couple of months in 2007 and is still something I go back to with a decent bit of frequency. I’ve been waiting on their newest album, Mines, ever since, and I now sit here surprised not at how good it is (expected, they’re great, they weren’t going to fall off), but how much more willing they are to rock out. There’s a lot of highlights here: the slide guitar stabs of “Bote,” their classic brass-belting pop quirk of “Five Little Rooms” and quite a few others…but “Taos,” which sounds like an alternate take on the Black Keys, is the first big surprise on an album by a band that usually plays the surprises in a more subtle fashion.
Check out the track, and then go get the album! Amazon.com has the physical version up for $7.99 right now. Hopefully I can also find a vinyl copy soon, though that’ll have to wait until I’m moved into my new place in Brooklyn and have easy access to vinyl without going to mail-order. (I wrote in March that I wanted to move up in four months…add about a week, and I did it!)
TitleTaosArtistMenomenaAlbumMines
