PUTTING OFF DEATH

Six years after their last album, 'No Ifs, Ands or Dogs', Cheer-Accident are back with their eighteenth studio album. During the last thirty years they have had something of a fluid line-up (including members who don't actually perform with the band, or do normally but don't play on this album), and there are fourteen musicians credited here, but at the heart of it there has always been Jeff Libersher (guitar, trumpet, vocals, keyboards) and Thymme Jones (drums, vocals, piano, trumpet, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars, moog, noise). I think the most polite way to describe their music to a newcomer would be "eclectic", with some RIO thrown in for good measure. They've conjure up a unique collage of intricate prog, lush pop and experimental noise, drawing on the disparate influences of Pere Ubu, King Crimson, Can, Art Bears, Wire, early Genesis and Yes, and the more Baroque leaps of the Beatles and the Beach Boys without ever settling on a sound that could be definitively traced to any of them in isolation.

Take opening number "Language Is" for example, which starts off a piano and vocal number, but just when the listener feels that they know what is going on and settles back in their comfy chair, all sorts of weird stuff starts happening so that by the end of the eleven-minute-long epic they end up scratching their head asking "what on earth just happened?". This is progressive rock that really is, refusing to conform to any ideal of what the sound should be like, but organically playing and experimenting with the music until the band themselves understand what they have before them. However, unlike many others operating within this particular musical sphere there is often a great deal of melody, and the music makes logical sense. But don't relax too much, as there are also plenty of times when it doesn't, but does, if you get what I mean.

Yet again Cuneiform are working with a band (this is their third album on the label) that the mainstream music industry wouldn't touch with a barge pole, and all of us who hear this are much the richer for the experience.

My only experience with this band up to this point was "Fear Draws Misfortune" which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thankfully can say the same about their latest "Putting Off Death" which is an eccentric album with a nice blend of commercial sounding music and Avant shenanigans. Besides the usual instruments we get 2 tuba players, 2 sax players, 2 trumpet players along with trombone, french horn, flute and violin. There is a theme to this album and the lyrics are pretty interesting.

"Language Is" is just outside of being in my top three tracks for this album. Reserved vocals and piano remind me of WIGWAM for some strange reason. It turns fuller around 1 1/2 minutes as the drums join in. Back to the previous soundscape of piano and vocals only as contrasts continue. It kicks into gear before 4 minutes to an uptempo piano/ drum groove. A change after 5 minutes as we get this strong atmosphere with rolling piano lines. This lasts until another change after 7 1/2 minutes as a horn arrives and the tempo slows down some with piano and drums helping out. Piano only after 9 minutes but drums and horns will arrive quickly. I'm not happy about the static that overtakes the music around 10 1/2 minutes, it's like listening to the radio and suddenly static dominates the sound. Annoying but short thankfully. I'm sure it's there for a reason.

"Immanence" is a top three. A pleasant sound here with really nice female vocals. I'm really enjoying this, especially when it turns fuller 2 1/2 minutes in with some cool vocal arrangements. Horns are here too then we get a calm 3 minutes in with piano and vocals like the opening. "Wishful Breathing" opens with drums and keyboards I believe then male vocals join in just before a minute. It starts to sound experimental 1 1/2 minutes in as the vocals step aside. Interesting stuff. A calm before 3 minutes with picked instruments only.

"Falling World" features these fuzzed out sounds to begin with as some guitar notes chip in followed by high pitched male vocals reminding me of CARDIACS. Drums a minute in then horns a minute later. It seems to deconstruct starting after 2 1/2 minutes to the end. "More And Less" opens with what sounds like vibes and drums as the horns join in. Vocals a minute in as the horns step aside but then another arrives. Vocals stop around 2 minutes as the horns and drums lead the way.

"Life Time Guarantee" is my favourite song on here. Vocals, guitar and bass hit the ground running as the drums join in. I like this. Horns just before a minute then a calm before 1 1/2 minutes with reserved vocals but then they step aside. It kicks in again after 2 1/2 minutes and check out the nice melodic guitar after 3 minutes. Vocals are back before 4 minutes and I like the drumming here. It turns avant before 4 1/2 minutes with vocals and dissonant sounds then we're back in the groove 5 minutes in as the horns start to blast over top.

"Hymn" is my final top three, yes the album ends really well. Guitar and drums as the vocals and more join in. This is so moving when the vocals arrive. Why? Horns before 1 1/2 minutes as the vocals stop briefly. Themes are repeated. After 3 minutes it starts to fall apart(haha) as it becomes experimental briefly then the vocals return. I can't remember being moved like this by one of their songs.

Another really good album that matches up well in my opinion to "Fear Draws Misfortune". Time will tell which one I like best but in the meantime I need to track down "No Ifs, And Or Dogs" that apparently fits in well with the two I already have. You don't have to be a fan of Avant music to like this one so check it out everyone!

I don't know how I've put off knowing this band for so long but finally I am here and I am in the fold! These artists are geniuses: avant/RIO musicians who create interesting, melodic, and engaging very engaging music while still definitely in contrast or defiance of mainstream rock and even prog. I will even go so far as to proclaim it a crime for any person, old or young, who calls themselves a fan of progressive rock music to not like the music of this band! One look at the lineup of musicians and the range of musical instruments represented--and they are all used prominently but not all at once--and you know you're in for a ride.

1. "Language Is" (11:24) Piano and male voice with some bassa nd drums in the chorus sections over the first four minutes, this alone is but at 3:40 there occurs a quite aggressive bursting forth of an entire Broadway/"West Side Story"-like full-band support--which turns into a rackus instrumental section, which then morphs into an almost meditative SAMUEL BARBER-like section before slide guitar, drums, bouncy piano, and horns take over in a neat jazzy-CHICAGO-like sound. Very engaging. Love the polyrhythmic weaves of the rhythm section. Staccato hits of the horns and moog take the lead over the piano and drums until piano is replaced by electric guitar chords and the horns by radio/television static--which persists into what sounds like garbled, mangled tapes. Great song! (9/10)

2. "Immanence" (4:12) opens with a piano-led rhythm and melody similar to an early BILLY JOEL song, only repeated in an almost minimalist way. Sung start to finish by a female vocalist (Carmen Armillas?) who just happens to have one of those nearly perfect, warm yet crystal-clear voices like Heather FINDLAY (MOSTLY AUTUMN, MANTRA VEGA, solo), this song sucks one in from the first note and never lets you go. It even gets one laughing (if you listen to the words). A tough song to get out of your head once you've heard it. Awesome. (9.5/10)

3. "Wishful Breathing" (3:45) opens as a jazzy little instrumental, drums bass and intentionally cheesy organ. A John Lennon "Tomorrow Never Knows"-like vocal enters for a bit before leaving the instrumentalists to go wanky into some other dimension--until the 2:45 guitar strum tries to set us back on the path of origin. Brilliant! (9.5/10)

4. "Falling World" (3:40) another song that seems to (inadvertently?) conjure up associations to THHE BEATLES' psychedelic music, as well as experimental funk bass player BILL LASWELL (8.5/10)

5. "More And Less" (3:00) I'm reminded here of Bill Laswell and Kip Hanrahan (with a little ARTO LINDSAY on voice!) during their Pangaea Records era. AWESOME work Thymme! (10/10)

6. "Lifetime Guarantee" (6:59) A little Robert Wyatt, people? That's how it opens. As it unfolds it morphs into a kind of 1960s flower child song. Then at 4:!5 it turns more into CARDIACS/ECHOLYN/Lewis Carroll mania. (9/10)

7. "Hymn" (5:11) has a BOWIE and early BRIAN ENO feel to it, lilting along almost like a children's song--as do so many of the songs here. Truly remarkable! Simple yet quirky and unpredictable. What a song to end the album-- with its brainworm melody. Even the psychedelic boat ride with Willy Wonka in the first half of the fourth minute can't suppress the joy, happiness, and elation that this song promotes. (10/10)

Total Time 38:11

I also hear so many influences from leading edge/experimental 1970s soul/R&B artists like James, Al Green, and War.

Five stars; a true masterpiece of what I consider to be truly progressive rock music. Amazing, beautiful, and so engaging and uplifting! My new favorite album of the year!