CD Review: Mum, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
Sep 5, 2007 3:22 PM Jason Jurgens (Writer)
What is it about Icelandic
music that chills you to the bone? Take Bjork and Sigur Ros, for example.
Whatever it is, Icelandic bands are so cold…er…hot right now. And, for the most
part, they are on the cutting edge of the experimental, post-rock crowd. Mum
will make its fellow countrymen proud with Go
Go Smear the Poison Ivy. Three years wiser (since Summer Make Good) and stripped down to the core founders, Gunnar Orn
Tynes and Orvar Poreyjarson Smarason, Mum return with an album characterized by
experimental electronic hiccups, pillowy soft vocals and carnivalesque noise.
But the duo doesn't go it completely alone. This time the guys welcome a
handful of musicians to the mix. A variety of traditional instruments, cello,
viola and brass serve as guides through a cold, industrial landscape.
"Blessed Brambles" opens with whimsical strings and chanting over
percussion that could have been done on any surface. On "Moon Pulls,"
delicate piano and hauntingly familiar Frou Frou–ish vocals create a somber
mood. Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy is
like life inside a snow globe once it's been shaken. There's a bit of chaos,
but the bits fall into place nicely.
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