PARENTAL ADVISORY.
3 years since the last album and line-up changes have changed the band we know as mum but the landscape they exist in has changed as well. There has been a change in the mainstream acceptance of this style of music which although it can be attributed to a BBC programme and its choice of soundtrack, definitely merits a wider audience. It may lack some killer choruses and a snazzy dance routine to accompany the song but todays listener is a bit more receptive to challenging and interesting work and the musical world is all the better for it.
It's the mix of light electronica and old-fashioned instruments that help mum create the unique atmsophere of their songs. Album opener 'Blessed Brambles' portrays the two styles fighting but also shows how they work together to create an excellent number. The scratchy and repetitive backing track glides along for a few minutes and it's nice but you are left with the impression that not much is happenening. To be fair, not much is happening but when it does eventually come together, such as the triumphant horn section or the chirping and chiming instrumentation, it's quite a classic mood. The opening track also contains the albums title, the straightforward 'Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy.' As album titles go, that's rather easy to understand so we won't bore the readers with any in-depth analysis of the meaning....hmmm, hopefully we'll get away with that because we certainly dont know. Not that it matters, not when the music sparkles and shimmies in its own right
And the tone is set for the album which continues to mine the genres and that strange sense of foreign-ness. Not that mum are making foreign music but the UK audience has been treated in recent years with bands like Sigur Ros and Amiina and if you are a fan of they two acts, then mum should certainly feature on your radar.
'1 Little Bit, Sometimes' starts off like a bizarre funfair, a strange wurlitzer effect bringing the song to life before some haunting vocals and a tune that belongs in a wedding scene in The Godfather films. Experimental is a dirty word in the musical world, so often it's bandied about on any music that doesn't make sense to a mass audience and it usually describes uncommercial or difficult music and this certainly isnt the case here.
Sure, it's as crazy as a bag of kittens but it's rather joyous and sprightly, the modern synths sitting happily with harmonica and melody after melody, the off-kilter rhythms jostling for attention like red-headed stepchildren.
A 12 song album that lasts for under 45 minutes is never going to overstay its welcome but there is a mix of brief and longer sections, which allows the bandto stretch out at times. In some parts, the stretching out consists of repeated "la la la's", like on 'These Eyes Are Berries' or the jutting, almost jug-pipe section on 'Guilty Rocks.' With so many layers and parts there are enough hidden gems on this record to come back to repeatedly without ever feeling bored of it and in that instance, mum have made a record that is well worth the money.
It's not for everyone, it's not your standard fare and there aren't going to be many singalong sections but if you fancy something a little bit different, then this may just be the crazy record for you. Enjoy!