Customer Reviews

Songs of the Cows

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I cannot understand the comments of the two reviewers below who gave this CD 1 star. They must be very young--with a very limited frame of reference--maybe they grew up on hip-hop. If you did, this is probably not for you. If you grew up on Hendrix and the Dead, Pink Floyd--or appreciate Jazz from the likes of Gabor Szabo--then you have come to the right place. For me, personally, the Mermen are very uplifting. They reflect the solemn beauty of the natural world--and the mysteries of the human dreamtime. If your banal existence is defined by the Marketing Mavens that run EmpTV--then don't waste your time--Mooks and Mid-riffs need not apply.

Unlike the big long wave of chillin' surfiness that is Krill Slippin', Songs of the Cows is a bit more disturbed and turbulent. It's also a very well-constructed album, one that I can listen all the way through and not get lulled softly to sleep. The Mermen are the kings of experimental surf rock, following a more mellow and introspective path than the other modern incarnations of surf. Don't look here for the punk enthusiasm of MoAM? or the bouncy foamy surf of Laika and the Cosmonauts -- the Mermen are prog rock meets Dick Dale, and it shows most on this epic-in-an-EP.

Although this CD only has seven tracks (five actual songs, and one medley of many slow guitar balodies), these are an excellent set of five. The songs range from the slow "Heart Of Paper Walls," the romantic "Verykino Show," and the speedy "Meander." The opening track, "Curve," is probably the best 90s surf song I have ever heard. Imagine driving a convertible through curvy roads with a beach nearby, waving to friends and aiming at yuppies. That's what "Curve" gives you a feeling of doing. Along with the spacey Man Or Astroman?, Laika and the Cosmonauts, and Huevos Rancheros, the Mermen have helped make the 90s surf sound somewhat known to the music world.

If you are even remotely interested in the "new" surf, this EP does not disappoint. In fact, it is one of the best pieces of music I own. Jim Thomas' hands are on speed and his head is on acid, as he double picks his way through a moody, melancholy landscape of sound. Play this at my wedding and play it at my wake.

Songs of the Cows was my first Mermen listening experience. I had read an interesting article about them while on a surf trip to San Diego somewhere around '96 and decided to check them out since the band was portrayed as rather "out there." I found a used copy of "Songs" at a Penny Lane record store and wasn't prepared for their psychedelic brand of surf music, so I might have been a tad let down at first listen (I agree with another reviewer's assessment that the album is "challenging.") So it grew on me - in a big way. Since then, The Mermen have become one of my all-time favorite bands and Jim Thomas is an excellent dude, always recognizing me at L.A. shows and saying hi. Plain and simp, The Mermen rule.

As we say in Mother Italy, music soothes the troubled soul. The Mermen did exactly that for me. Songs of the Cows is by far the best album produced by this exquisite group, all of whom are certainly on massive amounts of mind enhancing sustances, a practice I myself religiously condone. After what I consider the worst day of my life, which started out with a sharp and abrupt fall out of my 23 foot high waterbed (I'm scared of rats, and one had scaled the side and bitten a chunk out of my recently plastic surgeralized nose), my husband Zanna Viola la Beastia bought this CD as a feel better present significantly better than his last one, a can chock full of Cahunks of Tuna dog food, redeemable for one unforgettable night at Il Partito Nei Suoi Ansiti, an entertainment facility near our home in Roma. I immediately ran a scaldingly hot bath and sunk gratefully into the white foamy bubbles as The Merman washed over me from our customized audio sound system like a fine misty rain sluiced down from pregnant clouds. The dulcet tones of the lead singer are reminescent of the "roaring 20s," as you small Americanus call them, an age of depresssion and darkness. In conclusion, The Merman are perfect for an evening of relaxation in a steaming porcelain tub whose stainless steel drain is clogged with blonde back hair, and nothing more.

Hope you enjoy this product as much as I did (wink wink),

Meglio Annerire la Beastia

This band is one of the coolest bands around. If you are a surf rock fan, you NEED this. Even if not a surf rock fan, this album fits nicely into any intelligent music collection.

Even if you're not a fan of 90's surf music this is a must have CD. From start to finish this is as brillant a wall of sound as you'll hear. Nuff said.

Older more experienced music listeners will appreciate this. People who love reverb will appreciate this. People who enjoy a bit of distortion will appreciate this. Persons looking to fill their lives with some sweet synthesizer licks or awesome warbling vocals will do well to steer clear.

...love the mermen...psychedlic surf genre at its best...if u found this album, then look for the newest release, "in god we trust"....it's their best effort to date....