ALLOMERUS

Allomerus is a neotropical genus of small ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Allomerus is also a duo of musicians from Australia consisting of John Wegner on guitars, synths, bass, and vocals and Paul Wegner on drums and percussions. John and Paul are clearly not neotropical, nor are they ants (check their website, they're humans).

They released this, their self-titled debut, back in 2012 on Bandcamp onto an unsuspecting public which I think is still in a state of not knowing either of the Allomerus' mentioned above. John and Paul make some unusual "homemade" music that mixes traditional instruments with modern technology like iPad synths and electronic drums. I'm at a loss on who their influences might be as not a lot of comparables is registering while I listen to this debut. There is a sense of King Crimson in some of the guitar work, but compositionally, these guys are kind of unique. There are a lot of different styles being used throughout the album, even some brass rock in places. Some transition nicely, others seem to hit each other like a bunch of slammed doors.

I can't say this is for certain, but this album shows (at least to me) some evidence of a learning curve from the beginning to the end. The sound of the album and the compositions seem to improve as one goes forward. In some of the earlier tracks, it almost seems like there are timing problems present, like the instruments are out of sync with each other. At times it seems as if there are "artifacts" in the recordings of the hi-hats and cymbals; they don't seem smooth like they either weren't recorded correctly or were modified electronically. But like I said, the album does get better as you move forward.

I'm at a loss on how to grade this. It started off seeming like only friends of these guys (or some ant colonies somewhere in South America) would be interested in it and then it seemed like folks interested in experimental "homemade" recordings would like it. I'm going to generously give it a three star rating. It was weird enough to catch my attention, and that's a good thing. Is it essential? Nah, but if you're looking for oddball stuff you might get a kick or two out of this.