John Vs. “Mines” by Menomena

This is the vulnerable album. Not to imply that Menomena’s been about a whole bunch of macho self-confidence, but there’s a decided difference in how they’ve addressed their topics. “Friend And Foe” was externally directed, almost a collection of fables and attacks in how disconnected they were from introspection. The late album series of “The Pelican,” “Air Aid” & “Weird” is the best example of this; worldly rampage followed by a meditation on the history awaiting this place in time, and closed with a venomous spike at an anonymous antagonist. It’s “Weird,” though, that was able to give a bit more perspective on what was coming from Mines: there’s a decided self-depreciating side to it, where it’s admitted that it could just be him feeling inadequate.

Mines is very much about inadequacy and the struggle against it. Opener “Queen Black Acid” is an abused relationship hymn, complete with the disconnect with life after it finally comes to a close. Brilliantly, it’s followed by “TAOS,” which is the closest thing to swagger that such a band could ever achieve. It’s self-depreciating but in a charming way, bold and playful while subtly desperate.

It’s really tempting for me to just gush about what every song on this album is, and how brutally open all of these songs get, but that’s just rude, so I’ll pick one more to spend time on: “BOTE.” It’s likely my favorite song on the album, as it’s a great display of the album’s character arc, for lack of a more appropriate term. After whatever crushing event precluded the album, the songwriter seem to be growing stronger and stronger. A confrontation with the seas that caused such dread earlier are now met with full attention, and fought with everything he’s got. The catastrophic storm overtakes him, but at least not peacefully this time.

The reason that I’m not talking about the actual instrumentation to go with these songs is because they are so well paired with their lyrics that it’s almost redundant. At no point in the album does the music clash with what the singer is trying to say, and similarly do the vocals not overshadow the actual music. It’s a unified front, like a… a band, or something.

Huh.

WINNER: “Mines” by Menomena

WHY: It’s as much worldbuilding as music.