Jambase

Album of the Month:
The Molecules: Friends (Ra Sounds)
Try shoving Frank Zappa, An Albatross, many handfuls of large caliber bullets, a couple of cinderblocks and a bull in a china shop on PCP into a standard household garbage compacter and you're only halfway close to the feel of The Molecules. With the gritty ass, half buried vocals of multi instrumentalist Ron Anderson, Friends erupts in a panic filled frenzy of burly basslines, bi-polar jazz and math punk, which starts out like a score to some really hectic cartoon violence ala Tom and Jerry before getting pretty maniacal like Itchy and Scratchy. The vicious keyboard throwdown on "Turn Up Your Hair" is like being in the slot machine section of a casino built over a fault line as a massive earthquake sends the walls crumbling around you. Worth mentioning that Carla Kihlstedt (Tin Hat Trio) took the time to drop some violin on the record, so therefore you know the album is going to rule. - Chris Pacifico