Deuteronomy in Bloomington, MN

Given that
Lars Finberg
quit
the A Frames
to concentrate on
the Intelligence
, and that
Deuteronomy
is the first
Intelligence
album to be recorded in an honest-to-goodness studio with a producer,
Finberg
could be accused of taking his music seriously. However, listening to
proves this isn't the case -- the ever-so-slightly cleaner sonics just make it a clearer glimpse into
's frenetic imagination. On
"Moon Beeps,"
gurgling keyboards give way to gargantuan riffs with a dynamic impact that wouldn't have been possible on previous
albums. Other than that, however,
's approach hasn't really changed significantly since
Boredom and Terror
(like that album,
is the work of
alone), but that's a good thing.
The Intelligence
's melodies are so immediate, so relentless, they'd be jingles if they weren't drenched in prickly distortion and gooey, swampy reverb and sung by what sounds like a pissed-off android. Unlike the buzzsaw thrills of
and
Icky Baby
, on
slows the tempo down just a little bit and gets a lot more eclectic.
"Dating Cops"
stomps in on a sped-up riff nicked from the
Peter Gunn
or
Dragnet
theme songs;
"Rooms & Bags"
sways and shuffles like cyber-rockabilly in a jukebox from the future; and
"Outer Echelon"
's herky-jerky new wave could be a transmission from
The Forbidden Zone
.
's music has never been as gleefully, unrepentantly weird as it is on
-- even compared to his
In the Red
compadres,
's vision is pretty out-there, and delivered with a campy sense of fun that has been beaten out of much experimental and underground music. What to make of a frat-rock stomp with lyrics that go "I don't want to be destroyed/All I want is to lay on this block of ice"? It's probably best just to enjoy the sonic fun house that it -- and the rest of
-- provides. ~ Heather Phares