Moneybrother - They're Building Walls Around Us
Reviewed by david
It's rare to find a one-of-a-kind band these days; Moneybrother captures the originality that eludes so many modern musical acts, and manages to do in a six-song course (a compilation of three singles and their respective b-sides, apparently) what most bands fail to do throughout an entire career. Anders Wendin was once the frontman for Swedish punk rock group Monster, but now under the moniker Moneybrother, the vocalist brings together relatively large ensembles for a voracious display of ornate songwriting, the kind that can't possibly fit into any box, no matter how marketable. For me, I'd tell someone that the title track sounds like Burt Bacharach on crystal meth. The song's strings (three violins, a viola and a cello) sweep at an enormous speed, and the three-piece brass section only adds to the orchestral layering. Other tracks ("Reconsider Me" and "Feelings, Getting Stronger In the Night", namely) make me want to draw a comparison to Springsteen, though Wendin has a much wider vocal range than The Boss has displayed. "Strange Is the Night" and "Bum Fucked (For Sure)" are excursions into '60s American soul music. Very, very cool. Download "Reconsider Me" [here] [www.sabotproductions.net]