(We Ri Pro) (Guest Review by Gentleman John Battles) Monster Island Plus, a two man band, long before it was the hip thing to
be, hailed, alternately from Denton and Dallas, Texas (with the occasional trip to Brussels).
In the mid to late 80's, MI+
were part of a burgeoning music scene in Denton, which also included
Snake Farm, Bliss, Charred,
The Whirlygigs (for whom Monster Island drummer and singer Eddie Holland also played),
Professional Christ Imitators (a two man hardcore band that never seemed
to have played out), The
Hydrolators, and some guy called John Battles. It would be several years
before anyone in Dallas
picked up on this VERY DIY music community, one that would go on to usurp
Dallas in local band power
and even as a preferred stop for touring national acts. For original music Denton was largely limited
to a former State Fair corn dog stand and a still intact ex-Pizza Hut,
which served hot dogs and
hamburgers, instead. Then, there were frequent house parties (more on
that, later). Guitarist and
singer Tim Pope joined then-exotic percussionist Holland in more
toned-down affairs than what
appears here, some 25 years later, for their first-ever studio release.
The tempos and instrumentation
go from one extreme to another, light and heavy like an Iron Butterfly (Pope used to look like he could
have been a member of said band). There's a lot of humor, but, if you're
not a fanboy or a former
NTSU student, some of it MIGHT go over your head. Or just get stuck in
your head and STAY there.
They're joined by a full studio ensemble on most tracks, but since I
don't do acid (and, I'm NOT
saying they do, either), I'm having a really hard time reading the
liners. Pope and Holland pull off
some unique harmonies, and Pope lays down some cool coffeehouse acoustic
and hard Garage/Psych
electric guitar while Holland makes with both Latin percussion and big, bawdy Rock'n'Roll
drums. All or mostly originals, barring a strong version of "2000 Man"
by The Rolling Stones (I can't
BELIEVE no one jumped on the chance to cover this when said year rolled
around, especially with the
prophetic line "Well, my wife still respects me, I've really misused her, I am having an affair with a
random computer."), reworking the lyrics slightly, and throwing a verse
to suit the year 2010, when
this was recorded. It's just possible, too, that they recorded it in
honor of the nearly-forgotten
version KISS did in '79 (But the fact that the band members are dressed,
quite convincingly, as Paul
Stanley and Peter Criss, on the cover, didn’t influence my
observation). The acoustic/electric tug of
war reminds me of The Deviants' and Pink Fairies' first albums, while
other songs, still take on a
Hawkwind "Space Rock" quality. "Klaarg The Klingon" sounds like The
Simpsons doing Star Trek,
not a bad thing at all. The real standout track has got to be "The Leaning
House," a staple in their set
back in The 80s. The Leaning House was this old house in Denton that
sorta ...leaned. It's possible,
somehow, that it's still standing (last I heard, it was). All the Punk
Rock Art Student people seemed
to live there, yet, it was hard to tell who actually lived there, and
who was visiting. The Leaning
House was host to many great parties, with local bands and visiting
performers from as far away
as...Dallas. These parties were often shut down or quieted down, anyway , by the cops, while the frat house next door carried on at three times the volume. But, Monster Island
Plus could tell you more of
it's legend than I can, here. They could also tell you more of the legend
of special guest guitarist,
Takashi O'Hashi, a megastar in Japan. So, while this group carries with
it a "Hey, your chocolate is in
my peanut butter!/Hey! Your peanut butter's in my chocolate!" aesthetic, a collection of musical and personal explorations, gathered over more than half a lifetime, the end result makes perfect sense in this day and age.
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