Reviews

Working at Punkbands.com will give a bit of everything one can expect from modern music. Overly emotional gut-wrenching pop-punk, singer songwriters with truly inspiring stories, songs that could make Gandhi writhe in anger, and music that leaves one truly speechless; but I could have never anticipated what was about to leap from my headphones and plant its foot firmly in my metaphorical ass:
 
Disco. Yes, booty shaking Saturday Night Fever disco as the opening track of the CD. Yet, for the level of anticipation I had in slamming this album as it kicked in, I was left squinting at the swirling design of the media player as the album played in a state of indecisiveness. Although at first listen it was a bit annoying, and slightly different than what I would call my style of music, there was something a bit charismatic about an album this- I’d go as far as to say “bizarre.”
 
Moneybrother, whose real name is Anders Weldin, burst out on to the solo dance rock scene after being the former vocalist of a punk rock/ska outfit known as Monster from Stockholm, Sweden (I guess this could qualify him as a Europeanized Daryl.)  After releasing his debut album, Blood Panic, in 2003, Moneybrother came bursting back out with his EP They’re Building Walls Around Us, whose first track is the single off his new full length album To Die Alone. If you caught all of that, now on to the EP…
 
They’re Building Walls Around Us opens with its title track. Opening with a snare roll and 70’sish synthesizer, the song sets a fast and energetic pace giving the imagery of a Studio 54 setting; complete with bad clothes, tacky dancing and cocaine dust on the floor. As the song ends, the mood is quickly taken in a new direction as “Reconsider Me” takes us right out of the 70’s disco scene and into a mix of Bruce Springsteen and the Mary Tyler Moore theme song (bizarre I know, but listen and understand.)
 
“Strange is the Night” was a good effort, but very “Miami Vice” of him. The last two tracks of the EP may be my favorite. “Bum Fucked” had a very mellow, reggae influence that reminds me a little bit of The Police. The track is laid back and easy going, not causing the listener to strain to appreciate it.  Perhaps the most stylish of the efforts on the EP is “Eventually I’ll Break Your Heart,” a good old fashioned American rock n ‘ roll ballad.
 
Although it seems to me I’d be the first to slam an album like this because of its almost bizarre qualities and at times generic commercial value, I can’t say it was awful to listen to the whole way through. Although I think much of the style and lyrical content may have been lost in translation somewhere along the way, I don’t think he’s an artist to count out completely. There’s something a tad assuring about dopey foreign charm- I mean to young girls, not to me of course. I’ll give him a little credit for defying my expectations and wish him the best, but the abandonment of punk rock for mainstream stardom is all too common; nothing special, 2 stars. 
 
Oh, and by the way, if on youtube in the near future, the video for “They’re Building Walls Around Us,” is up, and an instant accidental comedy hit (I guess “cool” gets lost in translation as well.)