Even though their album titles may not suggest it, when Dismembered Sound Booth releases a new album you’re in for a treat. Their new album “Music For Addicts” follows “Extinction Party!” and “All Are friends Our Dead” in suggesting (and delivering) some darkness, but also complements those earlier albums but delivering another boatload of great and varied songs.
A lot of these tunes are, in fact, as advertised: songs about addiction. Titles like “Highly Functioning Alcoholic,” “Don’t Take Me Away,” and “Relapse Responsibility” suggest obvious links to the topic, although from different perspectives. The tunes are sharp and the humor is dark, but it’s not all hopeless. One of several lifelines is “Struggle;” a lyrically challenging but mostly pretty tune that’s a certain kind of love song, where hope in the form of a message that “we’ll make it through” ultimately prevails.
But, as always, the gang brings so much more to the table. Eclectic elements like beautiful piano interludes, beat driven bangers, spoken word, and funk all make appearances. [Oh, and I just love that heavy funk on “The Blag Press.” Somewhere, Bernie Worrell smiles.] So, something for the whole family. And the run of nearly two dozen tunes on offer ends perfectly. The late night, jazzy vibe of “Hell of a Night” seems to be the excellent come down track after experiencing all that came before. And maybe it is, but that’s not the end. Actual album closer “The Gig is Fucked” is a psychedelic nightmare trip, and is the appropriate way to send us off.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that Michael West, Natalie Simpson, Mark Rathmell, Giles Hearn and Brian Coleman have done it again, so maybe set aside just a little bit of your drug money to feed your DsB addiction.