Everyone Brings Something to the Table
While the band Chomper might be completely new terrain to most, the individual members may be familiar. Chomper consists of Mark Shue from Guided by Voices, Nick Chiericozzi and Mark Perro from The Men and Dream Police, and Russell Hymowitz from Dream Police.
Prior to the inception of Chomper, the four members were all friends and fans of each other’s work. The creation of the eight tracks which later came to be known as the album, Medicine Mountain, was loose and free-flowing. The group enjoyed casually making music together, and the rest came naturally. Writing the songs was a quick process, but recording the album was even quicker, only taking the band one day. They found they were successful in this process in the way that it helped them avoid overthinking the music; the whole album grew organically.
Each song has an aura of raw psych-rock, which is largely showcased in intense and soulful electric guitar. The vocals are especially emotional and passionate in tracks such as “I Wanna Die” and “AKA Pool Boy.” The eponymous track “Medicine Mountain” is one of the softer tracks, but still maintains the force and energy of rock. Drums steadily beat through the background while guitar fluctuates through relatively gentle and heavy moments before both slow to a halt at the end of the song. “I Wanna Live,” is a three-minute upbeat pop-rock instrumental sequence. Despite lacking vocals, the track successfully pulls off being the energetic counterpart to “I Wanna Die,” without explicitly stating anything through lyrics.
An extra touch added to nearly every song is a series of harmonic guitar squeals. This can especially be heard in tracks such as “Medicine Mountain” and “Fuzz Monster,” but these are not presented just for the sake of it. This effect is treated almost as a separate entity, and it brings an atmosphere of grit to the album.
Medicine Mountain successfully encaptures both the angst and fun of rock as a musical genre. The music is clear and not overly produced, so the group’s spirit shines through the sound. Although individual musicians from separate bands, the four members are able to combine their experiences and sounds into a collective work without going overboard.
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