Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Madlove - White With Foam [Ipecac - 2009]

Madlove is Trevor Dunn’s(Mr Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, many Zorn related projects & solo)stab at a guitar pop rock band; but as with anything connected with Mr Dunn this is far from a straight take on the pop rock as he throws in instresting often suprsining twisted & off-kilter edgers into the mix

Joining Dunn in Madlove we have female rock indie singer Sunny Kim(also in Brooklyn based 80’s tinged synth/ rock project Monocle) who has a powerful & harmonic voice that at times has some Mike Patton like tones(whether this is Dunn’s songwriting or Kim subconcise efforts to mimic Patton vocals is unclear). We also have  Hilmar Jensson on guitar (who’s in Icelandic glitch bound electroncia pop band Kira Kira) & lastly we have Ches Smith on Drums & Vibraphone- Smith has been a long term collaborator with Dunn appearing in Secret Chiefs 3 line up as well as many other Dunn related projects, he also plays drums in edgy & darkly romantic 80’s sounding pop project Xiu Xiu.

The albums pace is quite varied from song to song going from rocked up, to edgy vibe led tracks , onto synth stab post-punk; though it's firmly set in the experimental pop rock bracket & never really goes multi genre mixing like some of Dunn’s other project. Yet there are still elements here you would'nt normal find in a 'pop rock' band like odd time signatures & sudden off-kilter edger’s like: the slight unhinged & surprising vibe runs that litter the songs, dark slight discordant piano & synth cinematics, and all manner of tiny sonic quirks which makes this more replayble & rewarding than your common garden harmonic, but edgy indie rock female fronted band.

Madlove  is another interesting sonic turn from Dunn &  with ‘White with Foam’ he’s managed to make a edgy, slick pop rock record with twisted, surprising & often sour edger’s. On the downside it does sound mostly like another side project & not a band yet; sure you hear hints of the other members sonic identities ever so often between the Dunn-istic pop rock rolls & bends. But there’s not enough of them yet to make a true impact & make this a Madlove band album instead of just another Dunn project.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Madlove - White With Foam
Madlove is Trevor Dunn’s(Mr Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, many Zorn related projects & solo)stab at a guitar pop rock band; but as with anything connected wit...
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
220324   Patrick - Patrick( UHD/ Blu Ray)
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom