Disenchanted Monk
Ruby Zoo
Independent
2000
13 tracks
I listened to Ruby Zoo and I said to myself, "Self, here's a release that cries out for a second opinion." So I talked to my friend Alex [he plays lead guitar in my folk band but by inclination he's a heavy metal rocker]. Alex agreed to collaborate with me in writing this review. However, what he gave me was a review in itself so I decided to go ahead and write my own review. You can read what Alex thought in his second opinion.
I like Ruby Zoo. The music on Disenchanted Monk is like a compendium of rock music from the mid-Sixties to the present [okay, maybe the late-Nineties], and yet it also has a fresh, innovative creativity to it. Since the musicians who make up Ruby Zoo are very young, this convergence of the old and the new may be because they do not know from whence they have come. How many generations have there been between the influences this group reflects and the actual groups who influenced them?
In the music of Ruby Zoo, I can hear echoes of Pink Floyd, The Bare Naked Ladies, Live, The Who, Moody Blues, CSN&Y and others. Yet I can also hear something new and original emerging, much as the Beatles emerged from playing Little Richard and Carl Perkins to come into their own. Yet, how many artists have shown such promise and have come to nothing?
Disenchanted Monk features an interesting variety of musical styles written and performed with a maturity beyond the years of this young band, in their early twenties. Both the words and the music demonstrate a level of craft not often found in the work of beginning artists.
"The Forest in G Major (aka Wood)" is perhaps the most quirky of the songs on this release. With a very stripped-down lyric, the song is a lament for the forests lost in support of our lifestyle. There are whole sections of the song that sound musically and vocally like Bare Naked Ladies (especially "The Old Apartment"). Another section rips off Monty Python's "The Lumberjack Song" without giving credit in the liner notes or anywhere else. In fact, the printed lyrics do not include this section. This is perhaps the only area in this release that feels just plain dishonest.
"Josh Song" is fun. Starting out with a cool funky sound, it becomes a spoken word piece that sounds more Jimmy Dean than rap, then breaks out into a fairly heavy rocker topped by a reverbed Dave Edmunds sounding vocal. A frenetic love/hate song of son to father, this song has a kaleidoscopic quality, changing at every turn and every listen.
"Brotherhood" is another song that wanders across genres. While it has what is essentially a hard Seventies rock sound, it's infused with a funk groove that also harks back to that earlier era. The hard-edged vocal shows a definite country influence. This is another song with a political edge, but the lyric is obscure, making it difficult to determine just exactly what is the message.
Not exactly the anti-everything hard rockers we often expect, this band includes not just political tomes against destruction of the environment, genocide, and other injustices, but at least one clearly Christian reference. "Jesus Come" is an interesting funk-rock fusion prayer for succor using reverse imagery vaguely reminiscent of John Donne. With its repetititious chanting build and near-loop backup instrumentals and vocals, this song does, however, run the risk of boring the listener.
Each of the songs on Disenchanted Monk is interesting in its own way. While there is a certain unity and cohesion to the music on this release, the musical treatment varies from song to song and the usually breathless lyrics convey a surprising variety of messages. The songs here may or may not be hit parade material, but they are sure to find a niche market of people who enjoy their rock with a quirky, folkish edge.
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Review written: September 7, 2002
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