...Progress [EP] by Ideamen


After the great Mike Patton and his Mr. Bungle colleagues blazed the trail back in the '90s with their seminally bizarre musical experimentation and genre-shifting weirdness, the eyes of the masses were opened. Soon, there arose a great number of people wishing to get in on this; much as has happened with many a type of "new" music. And thus, by the turn of the century, a new scene of weirdness had arisen, and it had become quite the underground cult "in-thing" to be 'a bit weird'. While it may not be as original as it once was, it still has a long way to go before it begins to approach dull or saturated, so indeed, it seems that this can only be a good thing. Ideamen are one of the latest bands to emerge from this primordial soup of insanity. Formed in 2006 by a group of Chicago madmen, Ideamen present this first release in June of 2007, as Tim Swanson took the later part of 2006 out to play keyboards for Dog Fashion Disco (by that time, sadly, a sinking ship, as they disbanded in December '06). Anyhow, onto what you came here for. The music! The EP begins solidly enough, with the opening track "Vivid" setting the tone well for the coming ride, as well as establishing a similarity with the aforementioned Dog Fashion Disco and fellow Chicago band Tub Ring. "Vivid" is one of the highlights of the album, and one of the more conventional rock-ish tracks on offer here, but it's lyrically and musically sound enough to stand up well. "Know the Dance" then blends traditional Spanish music with modern metal music, however, sadly, it doesn't seem to work as well as it could, and the latter section of the song seems to lose its way somewhat. The third track, "Cavity", however, manages to swiftly pick things up again, with the excellent keyboard work here being a particular highlight. "Straight Shooter" is then a bizarre Southern rock mix, but manages to pull it off rather well, with some great guitar work. However, the closer, "Add One", is somewhat of a disappointment, as it fails to maintain the energy and momentum of the two preceeding tracks, and while not terrible, could have been better. Perhaps the five minute length makes it seem somewhat repetitive. In any case, despite this less than stellar closer, Progress is definately a good, solid EP, and certainly a first release that even the best of bands could be proud of. While good, but not essential, in itself, each of the members clearly shines at one point or another here in these 20 minutes, and the potential is definately there. Ideamen are certainly a band to keep an eye on and to expect great things from in future.

http://everydomainwastaken.net/rev.php?id=36


from Ideamen last fm page - journals
Ideamen - Progress
Mr. Swanson of Duct Tape Mustache and Dog Fashion Disco has gathered a group of similarly talented individuals and formed Ideamen. A keyboard let rock outfit not afraid to mix up their styles.
Know The Dance is a rock song with a schizophrenic hit of salsa in it and Cavity is amazing... I think it sounds a bit like Muse... but with some beat boxing/rap action. Go listen to them now, they're great.
Ideadmen