The Double Doghouse

hello folks! this week for the weekly review, we’re taking a look at an album from a band i’ve never heard of – Brain Cycles, released in 2009 by psychadelic rock band Radio Moscow. let’s dig in!

I Just Don’t Know leads the record – p good track here, with some very neat guitar licks that walk all around the mix, plus they make a lot of time for noodling as the track progresses. Broke Down jams in a lot of the same space. real nice! i feel like the vocals are doing a lot more for The Escape than they were for the prior two tracks, ngl. plus, i think i had more space to check out the drumming, though that might be me acclimating to what the rest of the band is laying down as we move deeper into the record. No Good Woman is the longest track on the record, and while i think most of that time and attention is spent well, there were parts of the track that i felt that length. i think the drum breakdown is my favorite part tho, absolutely fun. the title track here, Brain Cycles, is a pretty snazzy instrumental track. nice nice nice. 250 Miles appears to have been the fave off this record, based on play stats in a few places, and i can see why – this one’s got style, and the fact that the track doesn’t place its hand for the first half makes the back half hit harder. okay once again the drums are doing some really fun shit in Hold On Me – love the kinda double beat they’re doing rapid fire. fun. Black Boot is the other instrumental, and the shortest track on the record – some real country guitarwork here, and this sounds excellent, no lie. City Lights picks up basically right where that drops off, and ramps back up into a real bluesy vibe. No Jane closes out the record, and it does a pretty good job. it’s a nice way to close out on a solid track, but i wonder if i kinda woulda liked a track like Black Boot to play it out, changing things up at the end, yknow?

faves – 250 Miles, Black Boot
dislikes –

after i’d written quite a bit of my thoughts down about this record, i went checking around for some of the context for this record, and i feel very vindicated in learning that the lyrics were an afterthought. it reminded me a lot of the classic rock that peppers the Guitar Hero sound track, and it’s noodly and fun but the emphasis is on the fun stuff the band is doing, and both lyrics and vocals don’t… always do too much, haha. at the risk of damning with faint praise, i just… enjoyed this record. the music was fun, the band put in some really enjoyable performances, and i think that’s what i got with Brain Cycles.

Brain Cycles – 6/10

for the next Weekly Album Review, i’ll be checking out Mingus Ah Um, by Charles Mingus. i’ll be back next Friday, August 25th with that review and to pick another weekly record, and in the meantime, let me know what album you’d like me to review! (i pool all suggestions in one place, and draw a person, then one pick from that person, so feel free to drop as many as you’d like! if you leave an email or username i’ll contact you when i’ve gotten through all your suggestions.)