Object To Be Destroyed, the second album from New Orleans-based Metronome The City, sounds like the soundtrack to some cheesy sci-fi film from the 1950s, and with such song titles as "A8," "Laser Back" and "Surfdubssludge," I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
But, of course, it's not (although this post-rock collective does perform live with film projections behind it). Instead, Object To Be Destroyed is a mostly instrumental affair recorded in a church/studio and featuring bass, drums, guitars, organ and Moog. The band also tosses in a mind-altering array of radio frequencies, unusual voices, theremin, glass and sitar. The seven-minute "A8" best represents how Metronome the City melds those diverse traditional and nontraditional sounds into cohesive compositions, while "WR 104" sounds like it should be accompanied by a madcap cartoon chase. "Styer Faces" evolves with a Middle-Eastern aura, and "Thunderhead" is alternately the album's sparsest and heaviest track, punctuated with lone sounds whose instrumental sources are almost impossible to identify. This album certainly is, ahem, nothing to be destroyed.
Music fans outside of New Orleans seldom have the opportunity to hear artists from that city whose work doesn't echo the region's traditional Dixieland jazz, blues and funk. (New Orleans also is allegedly the birthplace of sludge metal, but - really - who cares?) Metronome the City is more than worthy of your attention.
Track Listing:
1) Border Blaster
2) A8
3) Snow Job
4) WR 104
5) Nard On Feet
6) Styer Faces
7) Surfdubssludge
8) Laser Back
9) Metronomics
10) Thunderhead
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