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REVIEWS
Mary and the Boy
Mary and the Boy
Low Impedance Recordings
Posted: Thursday, December 06, 2007
By: Trubie Turner
By: Trubie Turner
Mary and the Boy's first official album is like a car wreck; ugly and disturbing, but you can't help but be fascinated by it.
Ultra artsy electronic cabaret act, Mary and the Boy have released their first official album, which seemingly channels psychedelic acts from the '60s and puts a more electronic spin on them. Further enforcing this tie to psychedelic experimental music, Mary's voice sounds very much like Jefferson Airplane era Grace Slick mixed with a touch of Janis Joplin to produce a voice that is frequently very hard on the ears but at the same time breathy and alluring. Intentionally out of tune, chaotically all over the scale, and frequently yelling, Mary's voice is the centerpiece of this act, and your ability to accept her style will directly lead to you either enjoying or hating this album.
Accompanying the shrieking vocals of Mary is the minimalist programming of the Boy, which at times complements Mary perfectly, and others times is more of an incidental background noise to one of Mary's vocal tangents. For as simple as the compositions tend to be, they are generally very well done and are a distinct highlight of the album, at times making you wish the vocals worked as well. Throughout the album, Mary and the Boy's collaborative efforts work to varying degrees, at times being somewhat off-putting like on the tracks "Birth" and "Jesus," but working quite well on the first track named "Death," and the secret song attached to the second track named "Death." The greatest shame, though, is the strongest and the only really awe-inspiring track of the album is also the shortest. If every song on the album was on the level of the track "Black Terror," this would be the quintessential industrial cabaret album.
In the end, the album is very interesting but also very difficult to recommend. Mary and the Boy is not at all accessible and is very likely not going to be enjoyable for most listeners, but still there are things contained within that will occasionally send shivers up your spine. If you can get over the initial "knee jerk" reaction the album is sure to cause, you may find Mary and the Boy's self-titled work to be a gem of an album... or you may find you'd prefer to shoot it out of a cannon over listening to it again.
Accompanying the shrieking vocals of Mary is the minimalist programming of the Boy, which at times complements Mary perfectly, and others times is more of an incidental background noise to one of Mary's vocal tangents. For as simple as the compositions tend to be, they are generally very well done and are a distinct highlight of the album, at times making you wish the vocals worked as well. Throughout the album, Mary and the Boy's collaborative efforts work to varying degrees, at times being somewhat off-putting like on the tracks "Birth" and "Jesus," but working quite well on the first track named "Death," and the secret song attached to the second track named "Death." The greatest shame, though, is the strongest and the only really awe-inspiring track of the album is also the shortest. If every song on the album was on the level of the track "Black Terror," this would be the quintessential industrial cabaret album.
In the end, the album is very interesting but also very difficult to recommend. Mary and the Boy is not at all accessible and is very likely not going to be enjoyable for most listeners, but still there are things contained within that will occasionally send shivers up your spine. If you can get over the initial "knee jerk" reaction the album is sure to cause, you may find Mary and the Boy's self-titled work to be a gem of an album... or you may find you'd prefer to shoot it out of a cannon over listening to it again.
