5 out of 5

Label: Skin Graft

Produced by: Cheer-Accident?

Wouldn’t it be foolish if this doodling ‘soundtrack’ album was one’s first impression of Cheer-Accident?  Well then, a fool I must be.  But a happy fool, at least.  Billed as a “soundtrack” to an accompanying Gumballhead comic, according to the Allmusic review I should pish-posh on this release for being wandering and incomplete.  I guess.  I will say that it caught me off guard, with its at-times nigh-poppy sound (Notary Public, High Score), as – again, this being my first time out with CA – the aesthetic of the comic book and the association with Albini and other Graft acts had me assuming I’d be hearing discordant guitar rawk.  Which is certainly everywhere on this disc, just with a ton of laid back swagger as opposed to laid back vitriol.  I forget sometimes how early Skin Graft had a roster including Quintron and Denison-Kimball and the likes, which gives the light touches of folk, and funk, and jazz that haze in and out of the (mostly) instrumental jams on this disc more context.  But whether you have expectations or not, once you get adjusted, GtC is incredibly listenable.  The steady but loose beat definitely brought to mind other noise experimenters like Yona-Kit and Brise-Glace, but even when the album hits 11-minute long-player ‘Time for More Walking,’ Gumballhead doesn’t require as much “ah, this is experimental” dismissiveness to appreciate as those other acts can.  The vibe syncs with the accompanying comic pretty well, strutting about, punching people, drinking, smoking, and yet the compositions are also pretty tight, continually moving forward without rushing.  The relative simplicity of the sound is also misleading; repeated listens offer rewards of subtle off-kilter elements, or songs just suddenly open up and are a lot weirder and quirkier than upon first listen.

Maybe five stars seems like hefty praise for an “off” album of jammy tracks.  Except that I’ve had the disc on repeat for hours, and still find myself tapping my toe.  If you’ve ever listened to Terry S. Taylor’s Neverhood soundtrack, this is actually the closest comparison – the exact balance of oddity and head-nodability is perfect; the tracks loop while playing Neverhood and never get old.  Similarly, a couple of themes float in and out of Gumballhead the Cat, tying the experience together while the instruments slowly deconstruct and reconstruct the beats on different tracks.  Even those albums I CAN listen to for several go-throughs start to wear you down after a while, but these Cheer-Accident guys pull off a quaint feat with this ‘soundtrack’ of making something that functions both as a headphones-on-volume-up engaging listen or fine background music for making angry or happy faces, whichever you prefer.