Customer Reviews

Cats & Dogs

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This is my favourite mentals cd, every song's a classic, the lyrics range from surreal to funny and sad all at the same time. I think that was one of the mentals great talents. If you look more closely at the words to some of their happy songs(too many times, if you leave me..) there's genuine irony and a willingness to laugh at the cruelty of life. This exposes them to being seen as "zany" and not taken seriously, but the other cool thing about them is they really, genuinely dont care if they're taken seriously or not. The songwriting is some meeting point between new wave and classic 60's rock and roll riffs(imagine early Elvis Costello or early B-52's if they could write songs) What's more, the cover design looks totally cool. One of the all time great new wave records.

The Mentals were always one of the best Sydney bands around, but this CD is especially packed with memorable songs. Even without the Big Hit (If You Leave Me ...), there are Lets Cook, Beserk Warriors and Looking for Bird, still fresh and vibrant after all these years. It also boasts better and fuller production than their earlier effort, along with super lyrics.

About 25 years ago I heard about 5 seconds of "Let's cook" and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I finally figured out who the artist was, bought the album and it arrived today. I've played the whole thing twice now and the whole album is just fantastic. It won't be long before I own most of their other albums too. They kind of remind of Hoodoo Gurus in a way. I was willing to buy this album just to get Let's cook, and I am stoked that the rest of the record is so good. No hitting the "next" button on this one, all of the songs are great. Love it.