MULTIPURPOSE TRAP

One of talented North Carolinian Dan Britton's projects (the others include CEREBUS EFFECT, DELUGE GRANDER, and himself, solo), the band's sophomore, follow-up album to 2010's highly acclaimed Bantam and Behemoth.

1. "The Dumb Fish" (3:17) Is it jazz? Is it prog? Is it Zeuhl? What is this? It's tightly performed chaos with very solid drumming. (8.5/10)

2. "Horse-Shaped Cloud" (4:34) What is this? If I didn't know better, I'd say these ideas came from somewhere between Camelot and Canterbury. (8.5/10)

3. "Miracle Pigeon" (2:25) MUFFINS-like avant silliness. (4.25/5)

4. "East Is Fort Orthodox" (5:57) You can beat the dickens out the Christmas carol, but you just can't take take the Christmas Carol out of Dickens. Tim Burton would like this one--despite the horribly recorded vocal. (8.5/10)

5. "Secret Crevice" (5:49) tightly performed chaos. Not the kind of crease Chris Rock was talking about. More like Koenjihyakkei. (8.5/10)

6. "Tragic Penguin" (7:10) Truly tragic. Like I was saying, you can take the penguin Carol out for Christmas, but you just can't take the penguin out of the Christmas carol. Like Xing Sa or Setna. (13/15)

7. "Catapult" (10:09) a North Korean scud missile! This one makes me laugh. Monty Python-esque--on another level. (17.25/20)

8. "Aviator Prosco" (10:13) good start with its peaceful, slow melodic weave. I feel as if the band is in the next room as Marvin Gaye when he was recording What's Going On? I really like the Burt Bacharach-like background vocal sound and arrangements. Then the MAGIC BUS/INNER EAR BRIGADE sound and stylistic palette in fourth, fifth, and sixth minutes. By far and away my favorite song on the album. (18.5/20)

9. "Abominable Pelican" (14:03) opens like the previous song before going more Middle Eastern pop jazz and presenting an absolutely ludicrous libretto arranged and performed to disastrous effect. Despite all attmpts and indications, this one is not even funny (except in a sad Tim Burton-kind of way). (24/30)

Total Time 63:37

Complex, dextrous compositions that are, once again, rendered at times cringe-worthy by poor production and/or engineering (though I have to admit the production here is not quite as bad as Dan's previous releases). Too bad I don't really like the high-energy klezmer like music. (I find it entertaining but it is not something that I enjoy or would ever choose to return to for my own listening pleasure.).

B-/3.5 stars; an entertaining collection of upbeat silliness.