Published on May 25, 2004
Public response to
Right About Now obviously swayed the folks at Burning Heart
Records enough to elevate the Peepshows off the company’s
subsidiary label with the release of the band’s first full length
effort,
Mondo Deluxe.
Building off the Peepshows’ punk past,
Mondo Deluxe interestingly takes the same path into punk n’
roll that Turbonegro’s
Apocalypse Dudes
did just a little over the year before. I bring this up as I
obviously made reference to the fact that there were striking
similarities between the two bands’ works in my other review. This
bears significance as the rest of the world would soon be dishing
heaping amounts of praise on Turbonegro for being the forerunners
of not only the late 90’s rock scene from Scandinavia but for being
one of the best underground rock bands to ever crawl into the
mainstream’s eye.
Additionally, Turbonegro’s bassist, Happy Tom, was obviously
cool with the Peepshows’ homage to his band’s sound. He wrote a
testimonial in the CD jacket that praises the members of the
Peepshows for having the “flair to punch the clock in the factory
of discontent” alluding to the fact that
Mondo Deluxe was a worthy effort in his estimation.
Well, by definition, punk n’ roll is a neutered version of punk
rock and
Mondo Deluxe is, indeed, a neutered version of
Right About Now. That’s not to say this is a bad thing; the
riffing and percussion work are still creative and powerful but the
vocals come across in a sleepier fashion. The tinges of anger
previously delivered in Adde Wolfbrandt’s vocals are now centered
around a focus on creating songs that are more melodic. The guitar
solos on this album are also more defined than the band’s past
effort which serve to loosen the noose on the album’s accessibility
to the listening public.
It’s the vocals, my friends, which kick
Mondo Deluxe back into the depths of mediocrity. Truthfully,
I find myself more interested in what the guitars and percussion
deliver than 90% of the vocals. “Thy Will (Not Mine) is an example
of a song that becomes a lot more interesting to these ears for the
minute that the song dives into its instrumental jam. Similar
claims can be found littered throughout the album, occurrences that
do more good than harm.
“Goodnight” is the one song that stands out with the inclusion
of Wolfbrandt’s vocals as it turns the song into a frantic affair.
It is also a track that I’m sure was penned to become the band’s
show closer as the chorus pummels the “Now it’s time for us to say
goodbye” chant in fist clenching fashion. Good stuff as I normally
couldn’t imagine getting all stoked for a show only to anticipate
the closing track with such interest.
In closing, the Peepshows evolve in many ways with the
Mondo Deluxe release. Most significant is the advancement in
musicianship. But, I’ll say that the overall vibe isn’t quite as
exciting as it was when I was spinning
Right About Now.