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Band:Monster In The Machine Album:Butterfly Pinned Record Company:Emotional Syphon Recordings Writer: Mark Carras Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

So here is a review of one of those non-metal bands I know some of you just hate. Yes, this is a little on the pop side of things, but I have always been a sucker for a well written pop rock tune. This is very well written, too. Imagine a unique blend of vintage David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Beck, and Radiohead. Yep, mellow alternative rock. Where Radiohead has always bored me, this is good. I never liked Beck much either, but I like this. It could be the Bowie and Depeche Mode influences I like. One of the things I like about it is that it somehow flows smoothly despite it's diversity. "Dot On My Soul" reminds me of The Cars, so there is another sound he sneaks in here. It's all over the map, but still flows like one big long song. It is very rare an artist can pull that off.

The production on this is very important. A bad production on something like this could really mess things up. So thankfully everything from the production to the mix are done with precision. Shannon Crawford's vocals are something that could sound absolutely horrid if not done right. He has this tranquil ambiance that many have tried but very few are able to pull off. My wife tried to write a review for this cd and she couldn't do it. She said the cd was too hard to describe because he mixes his influences so seamlessly it is hard to pinpoint what it is drawing from any given moment. Where some artists proudly wear their influences on their sleeves, Shannon Crawford mixes them up in a way that makes it his own unique style and sound.

So did this Rock My Monkey? Well, I'm not sure it is that kind of cd. This cd is more about vibe than truly "rocking out", but I do enjoy it. I know that both me and my wife will be listening to it many times after our coverage of it is done (see my interview and live photos already posted). In fact, I thought I was done with this cd until I did search for a review and couldn't find one. So I had to take this cd out of the bathroom where we listened to it while getting ready for our paying gigs. So if you need some really well written stuff to mellow out to, this is perfect. If you want to listen to death metal 24 hours a day seven days a week, then I guess that is your prerogative. I like to mellow out to stuff like this at the end of listening to old school thrash all day at work.

Band:Monster In The Machine Album:Butterfly Pinned Record Company:Emotional Syphon Recordings Writer: Mark Carras Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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