I’m always weary of high levels of pretentiousness when the term ‘concept album’ is thrown around, but when it is a concept album paying tribute to 50’s horror films you really have to wonder two things; 1) What the hell are they thinking?! And 2) Is it even possible to pull it off?! I can’t answer the first question but the latter certainly is answerable; ‘yes, but only just’
I wasn’t familiar with MONKEY BOY before hearing this and after the opening sample, which is atmospherically fantastic in a true 50’s horror film way, I really did question where the hell (pun intended) they were going to go with the rest of the album. Well really I can only describe the sound of this album as some sort of Blues-Punk hybrid with two basses which thunder and pound their distorted way across the length and breadth of the release. There aren’t really any other bands I can lazily compare this to; whilst the press sheet calls it the ‘most individual concept album ever’ I’m still unsure whether to agree, ‘most ambitious’ may have been more fitting.
The concept continues mainly, as there are other well used samples and atmospheric moments across the ten tracks, in the vocal efforts. They sound to me like true east-end disgruntled cockney voices but they are really and I mean really effective in capturing the concept. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they are the main reason this album works; I can almost picture an angry mob in flat caps wielding pitchforks preparing to storm an evil doctors lab, all in black and white of course. The lyrics are of course a big tool in trying to give life to a creation like this and every track is packed with, well, what you’d expect from a 50’s horror film concept album. For example, in ‘Strutter’: “Get back! The Doctor said, looking unfazed was the creature he’d made. “We want them out!†the wrathful villagers say…â€
This certainly is one of the most unique albums I’ve ever heard. MONKEY BOY have taken on a massive risk with this and they’ve pulled it off. If you want to hear something completely different yet rather effective then this is definitely worth checking out. But beware, it will be a bit of a shock if you don’t know what to expect from this band. I was looking forward to the commentary the band give at the end of the CD but it was rather dull and sounded a bit forced, definitely more of a dedicated fan’s feature as nothing incredibly interesting is mentioned which was a little disappointing after hearing a wildly different album. For what this is, MONKEY BOY have done a damn good job.
www.monkeyboy.co.uk
www.lockjawrecords.co.uk
Mike