MV + EE with the Bummer Road - Green Blues

Genre rock Publisher Ecstatic Peace Records External Links Official MV + EE with the Bummer Road Website Official Ecstatic Peace Records Website

Borrowing heavily from the "more noise the better" school is Matt "MV" Valentine and Erika "EE" Elder, plus their cast of additional musicians named Bummer Road. And the album Green Blues certainly lends the casual listener to think nails on a chalkboard and screeching cats would be more enjoyable, but it does have its moments.

The duo has been churning out experimental and avant garde works for awhile in the New England wilderness and, in the process earning praise, and help, from such noise pioneers Thurston Moore and J. Mascis. Perhaps on kind advice, hidden harmonies and mysterious lyrics are much more prominent in this current work, and in turn probably a bigger label push and a potential for wider acceptance.

There is a fair amount of noise on Green Blues, but it's unique and such that it could easily be referenced as an hommage to early Sonic Youth. Just about every instrument is thrown in the album, sometimes unnecessarily, but the underlying soul of the songs shine through. "Mine All Troubled Blues" is a waterfall of acoustic string instruments that mimic a sitar, but the melody stays true all the way to the modest, stripped end. The epic "Solar Hill" is worth the time, but if you're not in the right mood it feels like waterboarding.

A certain charm eminates from the album if you get past the egregious noise and search for its underlying point. It will take some work, but the reward is a nice slice of sonic pie rarely heard in the mainstream.