These four Philly dudes are dead-serious when it comes to making music without borders. From the French parenthetical title of the quartet's second album, to song titles like "Autodidactic" and "Neurosurgery," to the off-kilter blur of influences that Now Soon Nowhere throws at listeners during the course of 53-and-a-half minutes on Character Studies, this is not music for the meek. Citing such influences as Mike Patton, John Zorn, Radiohead and Portishead, NSN incorporates rock, jazz, world music and electronica into a potent if not always tasty sound stew that'll have you scrambling for either "skip" or "repeat."
Drummer and vocal chameleon Inspector Minsini (seriously?) often sings NSN's unintelligible lyrics as though he's fronting a cabaret in hell, while multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist Scott Radway, guitarist Shawn Grafius and bassist Vinny Tiver provide devilish accompaniment. No two songs here sound the same, which comes as no surprise considering that few bands can go from the cacophony of "A Hairy Situation" and "Tube & Bucket" to the grandeur of "Infinite" – the most "song-like" song on Character Studies. The Inspector sings in a stunning voice and the instrumental passages, while reflective of NSN's other material, come off sounding both more playful and more purposeful. Clocking in at seven minutes, it's easily the album's longest but most accessible track.
Take advantage of MySpace for this one, and sample NSN before committing.
Track Listing:
1) Neurosurgery
2) Spy Cat Smitty
3) Abattoir
4) Mid-Jets
5) The Second Time Around
6) Of Many Small Villages
7) Eczema Gipper
8) Everything We Thought Was Wrong
9) Tube & Bucket
10) The Dangles
11) A Hairy Situation
12) Infinite
13) Momento de Pasion
14) Autodidactic
15) Just Around the Turban
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