Some music merely does what it says on the tin. It doesn’t ask you to think too hard about what is going on or too deeply about the message being presented. You don’t have to try to bend your mind into complex shapes, trying to understand just which genres are being merged or, indeed, how the band has made it all work. Some music can be taken at face value. Yes, some music offers a simple, direct experience. But where is the fun in that?
Decidedly not taking the easy route, Thunderbird Lodge finds Wisconsin psych-rockers, The Flavor That Kills, carrying on where their last album left off and offers plenty to think about…on all fronts. And, although I have just labeled them psych-rockers, you soon realize that this tag is just the tip of a very big sonic berg!
So, if opener “Skinwalkers” blends scuzzy alt-rock riffs with stoner vibes, a funky groove with gritty weight… like James Brown leading a grunge-infused charge, “Spin” is a gnarly soul-rock sojourn. And if “Shadows” is a warped and twisted power ballad that has turned to the dark side, “Too Much Acid” is a freaky, foot-on-the-monitor slice of garage rock. And in between you find…well…everything – from punk to funk to pop to psychedelia to sub-metal and a few genres that they invented along the way.
And what does it all mean? Well, while the songs found here take in everything from aliens to AI, skinwalkers to cyborgs, mind games to dimension hopping, as always, you need to read between the lines. Do that, and you find that this is less a mere science fiction tale but a science fact warning. Just because something sounds out there doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Music that makes you feel, music that makes you think. Boy, does it make you think!
