Info: The debut album from Skeleton Farm, The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese is not for the feint-hearted, and the creeping intro on first track 'Where Have You Gone, Megabird?' sets an early tone for the ensuing chaos that is waiting to be unleashed on the listener. The cacophony of heavy guitars and doom-laden bass-lines, along with searing vocals continues into 'Shady Dealings', but we hear the first signs of what is coming up later on the album with a 2-second acoustic guitar progression. Respite is fully offered on the thoroughly enjoyable fifth track, 'Slow Boat to China', a laid back and easy going instrumental which morphs back into Skeleton Farm's trademark noise rock toward the final third of the song. Toward the end of the album we come across the punky, Sex Pistol-esque 'Ruysdelkaede', a reference to Amsterdam's Red Light District, which again explodes in sonic bursts, before being interrupted by another acoustic breakdown and finishing as it began.
Along with 'Slow Boat to China' my favourite track on the album is the final one, 'Shegaze', the name gives obvious clues to what you can expect, and I really love the mix of distortion over sliding guitar riffs and the changes in tempo of the drumming, it's quite early Mogwai for me. The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese has a nice mix of short bursts of energy and longer instrumental numbers, the latter I prefer, but simply because I'm more accustomed to the type of sound on them than the heavier tracks, which others may enjoy more. Overall the band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, are tight and the record is a polished album which really benefits from their experimentation and free-form style throughout and you can also listen to the entire album below!
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Skeletonfarmtulsa
Bandcamp: http://skeletonfarm.bandcamp.com/
