I don't know what Jesse Krakow is smokin', but it's resulted in some truly bizarre music by a multi-state collective with an equally bizarre name. We Are the Musk Brigade includes players from New York (where the Polish Krakow now lives), Colorado, California, North Carolina and Massachusetts "who came together under the guise of a four-track imaginary bedroom band," Krakow tells us in a two-page hand-written letter that accompanied the mouthful that is the title of this debut CD, Sand Dunes & Beef Balloons/Let Me See Your Moo-Flomps. Many of the players have never even met each other.
This is only one of Krakow's bands, each of which seems to tap a different creative vein. In the case of We Are the Musk Brigade, Krakow claims he was inspired by a bunch of bands you've probably never heard of — including "this horrible Christian punk band from the early '90's called Two Way Traffic," Krakow writes – as well as side two of The White Album. I don't even know how to begin describing the 25 lo-fi songs on SD&BB/LMSYMF. Some of them sound seemingly unrehearsed and may even be part of an elaborate inside joke, as there is juvenile singing performed by someone whose mouth is apparently gagged ("Pedro Is Inspired By Fire"), fart noises set to a makeshift toy marching band ("That's Produce"), record scratching ("The 90's") and lots of out-of-tune singing. Many songs don't really end; they just stop and segue into something completely different.
After listening to SD&BB/LMSYMF and studying the intricate hand-drawn album art, I must admit that I'm not sure exactly what Krakow is trying to accomplish with We Are the Musk Brigade – other than to prove he can make some intriguing noise with musicians and artists he's never met. It's hard to believe that Krakow is a John Wetton fan. But for that reason – and because his intentions are probably good – I'll give his latest project an extra half-star.
Track Listing:
1) Introducing Me
2) Take You For A Play
3) Thing I Like
4) Surprise Birth
5) Pedro Is Inspired By Fire
6) The Sneezy Dance
7) All I Want To Do Is Rock and Roll
8) Not Enough Me
9) That's Produce
10) Fartbutt
11) I'm Sick Of All These Men
12) Merry Happy Friendly Fun
13) Sand Dunes-Beef Balloons
14) Do Not Stop the Ready
15) California Holes
16) We Are the Musk Brigade
17) Dudes Never Die
18) Don't Be Untrue
19) You Can Go Now
20) Making No-No's
21) The 90's (It Was)
22) Searching For What the Fuck
23) After Night Falls
24) Mystery Clown
25) You Can Go Now
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