Monotonix
Where Were You When it Happened?
Rating: 2.5/5.0
Label: Drag City
One of the most unlikely concert bills I saw this decade was the Silver Jews, on what would be their final tour, and Tel Aviv’s Monotonix. Aside from shared label and ethnic backgrounds, they couldn’t be more different. Silver Jews, who didn’t even tour until 2006, were never the most compelling live band and main Jew David Berman was a somewhat erratic performer. Monotonix, however, put on one of the wildest, most untamed shows I’ve seen. Berman walked off the stage at one point, for undisclosed personal reasons, whereas the hirsute, often shirtless Israeli trio (vocals, drums, guitar) never even set foot on the stage, instead playing on the floor with the audience. They frequently picked up their instruments to relocate, broke down the flimsy barrier between the drinkers and non-drinkers, and ended up straddling the balcony-still playing-for their climax.
When the live show is the real draw, studio albums can seem redundant. Following up on last year’s Body Language EP, Monotonix have released their first full-length album, Where Were You When it Happened?, on Drag City, making them incongruous label-mates with Will Oldham and Bill Callahan. In concert, I was so transfixed by their antics that the music was a little bit of an afterthought. Live, it all blurred into one muddy, loud song. Sitting down with it, there’s nothing particularly distinctive or original about their music; the most creative aspect may be the cover art, which shows the band emerging from some guy’s jeans. The music is power riffs, mangled vocals and the sweaty, acid-soaked feel of classic rock. It has speed and muscle, but little else. “As Noise” is a bash and scream fest, “I Can’t Take it Anymore” has the sludge and demonic vocals of stoned metal and “Set Me Free” is the only song in which you can actually make out the words to the chorus. They do vary things on the final track, the menacing, organ-driven “Hunt You Down.”
While I hope to see them play again, I can’t see listening to the album much. It might work as the background for a party involving nudity and lots of Jager shots, but the music itself has a short shelf life. It has a raw energy to be sure and there is some novelty to a foreign band putting their stamp on American rock ‘n’ roll. The Hives had a similar appeal, but they had better songs and funnier lyrics. Ami Shalev’s vocals are almost entirely garbled and the songs have little personality or distinction, and the album is more like a long, woozy heavy dude rock orgy. It’s too bad they weren’t more imaginative in their packaging, perhaps including a DVD or a lock of chest hair.
Where Were You When it Happened? feels like a souvenir of sorts, a postcard of their assaultive, mad live shows, but you’d be better of being there rather than listening to the record.
by Lukas Sherman
