The second installment from the slightly ridiculous side project of Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and JP Reid of Sucioperro. Two guys I wouldn't usually describe as groovy, but together, dear Lord they'd make a nodding Jesus figurine look quite un-groovy. So as you can imagine, these guys are extremely groovy. They make about as much sense as a nodding Jesus figurine too, i.e. not a lot at all. But, much like the overly-agreeing Christian guy, they can fascinate you for hours on end. They're live shows are supposed to be just as inspiring as his too, only while he preached claiming to be the Son of God, they wear gimp masks and have the Duke. I can't really explain the Duke. It's quite odd actually, the idea of some guy in costume dancing around on stage, contributing absolutely nothing musically to a musical performance, yet, it's really fun.
That really is the only word to describe what these Scots are after doing. They've taken a break from their more serious musical commitments, and used their hard-earned musical reputations to have a bit of a mess. The music that came from it, some of it's good, some of it's not great, and the rest of it's also not great, but fricking fantastic. The jumpy bouncy happy Silhouettes makes it impossible for even the stiffest of dance floor inhabitants to stand still. Equally rhythmically invigorating is the outstanding opening riff of Pandemonium. The song on the whole is certainly one of the strongest, if not a bit stretched out. Singles Kid Gloves, and Rubber Lover are both fun and catchy, true to the album's trend, but what the album does lack is a real flagship single. Even now I'm struggling to think of my favourite song off what actually is a fantastic album, and I can't make my mind up. They're all good, some really really good; Je Suis Un Funky Homme, if I had to choose, probably my current favourite, but that's likely to change more often than Lady Gaga's female validity.
However, I guess it's hardly a bad thing that no one song is more genius than any of the others. In fact, I'd say that's probably the charm of MD - they haven't gone out to write a chart-topping single, or a bangin' summer anthem, they've just had a bit of fun writing an album that is different to what they've become famous for writing. It couldn't be helped that their genius rubbed off on it eh? With Simon now back with a new album from BC, and soon to start a tour with them, I'm afraid to say that the Duke is likely to be put back in the attic for a year or so. Unless, of course, that Simon can somehow manage to be in two places at once. Not likely, but I wouldn't put it past him, Il Est Un Extremely Funky Homme. 8/10
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