This is such an odd record. The Littlest Man Band is the creation of Reel Big Fish man Scott Klopfenstein, who alongside RBF brass monkey Dan Regan, has come up with a strange side-project. Sure, there’s brass in abundance, but anyone expecting slapstick sunshine ska in the form of their day-job will be sadly mistaken. Imagine Tom Waits, The Beatles, a bit of blues and a dab of jazz and you’re probably a lot closer to the mark. As far as side-projects go, you probably can’t get much further away from the norm than this. It’s not so much out there as on another planet – musically this is exceptional; the songwriting is clever, the lyrics very tongue in cheek and the structures are imaginitive. But there’s something missing which will preclude many new fans, making ‘Better Book Ends’ a very difficult record to grasp. Not just that, but many RBF fans expecting something they can sing along to will be left very disappointed.
The opening ‘Preface’ smartly hints at what is to come, while the intro to ‘Always Sayin” is very brassy and funky and it’s just a pity the verses tail off a little. At this point you could be forgiven for wondering why on Earth I’ve been suggesting TLMB are so off the wall, as there’s little suggestion of that so far. But as the album progresses things tend to get stranger and stranger. ‘Bad That Is Beautiful’ meanders and sounds weak; it’s almost like you expect Aaron Barrett and some mad-cap ska riff to kick in at any second, while ‘Maybe I’ sounds a little like Radiohead if they collaborated with Rx Bandits. It’s original, don’t get me wrong, it’s just a little…well, odd.
There are strong moments and Scott’s voice is very funky throughout. ‘Stayed Away Too Long’ struts and preens with supreme confidence, while ‘Happened Again’ is certainly catchy. The jazz-influence on ‘Sunshine‘ will probably split listeners either way – it’s impossible not to admire the musical genius, but I doubt I’ll be listening to it next month, while ‘Wrong Bed’ has a similar effect, opening with distorted guitars and effects, but it takes far too long to get going. It’s fairly indicative of this record really, an album that is fundamentally challenging and innovative, yet after you’ve scratched the surface and found something remotely interesting, there’s a lack of a killer hook to keep you interested. Scott can rightly take the plaudits for doing something different – and probably better than some of the latter RBF material – but I don’t think giving up the day job is a safe option just yet.
www.thelittlestmanband.com
Brand New Hero
Paul