The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Courtesy

Menomena's songs are like the spaghetti sauce that you never wanted to your mom to make, the kind with that eerie quality of being made up of "everything under the kitchen sink." Ever had spaghetti sauce like that, where one minute you'll be tasting tomatoes and basil and in the next bite you'll find a piece of celery that you swore you threw out of the fridge last week? Menomena write their songs the same way, throwing in everything from under the musical kitchen sink without premeditation. The band uses a homemade computer program called Deeler that loops improvised instrumental riffs on top of which the band lays down whatever they see fit, be it, as drummer Danny Seim has explained, "some bass, piano, guitar, bells, sax, or whatever other sort of noisemaker happens to be in the room." What results from this songwriting process, however, is undeniably kinder to your ears than that "spaghetti sauce" ever was to your taste buds.

On Friend & Foe, bits and pieces of music and textures enter and exit, weave and interact with each other like strangers bustling through a busy intersection. "Wet and Rusting" begins with a quiet and snidely sorrowful line, "I made you a present/you never expected." Electronic blips are barely audible in the background, a few strums on an acoustic guitar pop in but leave before forming the riff we want to hear, a triangle tinkles teasingly before the vocals reenter, now sounding no more prominent than the rest of the music. Then the drums shift gears and guitars rush in, every disparate part still feeling disparate, but the momentum of the song drives everything together with beauty and determination.

More striking is the middle of opener "Muscle'n Flo," when the song transforms from being a manifesto of youthful energy to a hymnal confession of love, a sudden transition punctuated by the sudden and gorgeous emergence of an organ as the band declares, "Come lay down your head upon my chest / Feel my heart beat, feel my unrest / If Jesus could only wash my feet / Then I'd get upstroke, and muscle on." It's a moment tender and grandiose, made all the more so by the revelatory entrance of the organ. Menomena builds Friend & Foe on moments like this, where the intensity and dynamism of the band moves their songs in unexpected directions that are musically surprising but still familiar and captivating. Admittedly, not every song on the album achieves such highs, and building an album on "moments" is like making a sports team out of a few all-stars, but though not every song is exceptional, most are memorable and repeat listens reveal the depth of every song's construction.

Menomena dubs itself as an experimental indie rock outfit, but for all these self-labeled qualities, the band seems to be unconsciously striving toward conventionality. No matter how "unique" their methods of composition are, the band's strengths are rooted in a strong sense for melody and an earnestness that oftentimes lands them in poppier places than you might expect. The vocals on Friend & Foe (all three members share singing duties), oftentimes verging on clichéd nasally-indie-rock-voice territory, also hint at the conventions at the core of the band's music. But the typical only accentuates the exceptional and the unexpected in the case of Friend & Foe. The band's ability to balance their experimental tendencies with universal emotions and transcendent melodies make Friend & Foe an album that is simultaneously adventurous and familiar, inventive and accessible.

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