Lou reed, Jim Carroll, Tom Waits, The Fleshtones and David Johanson walk into a
bar....If that ever did happen it would be no joke but it might explain what
spawned The Mattoid.
The Mattoids album Hello has this fantastic feel to it, groovey darknesswith a
tongue in cheek seriousness that sets it apart from any thing I have heard like.
Track titles such as "funeral party", "slackers pain"and "rat poison" would
suggest that one shoulod not listen to the album in times of emotional need or
while drinking brown liquor but that's simply not the case. The instrumentation
alone sends a different message, party laugh enjoy "happiness is everywhere" he
tells us ..live it up "drink your drinks and eat your eats". Even the earlier
mentioned "rat poison has got this great skip beat feel to it that makes me want
to go ride my bike and smile and wave at people on the street, very Yo la Tengo
but not directly stripped from their song book.
The lyrics, oohh the lyrics, when the music has the sunshining through it
Mattoid lets us have with the dark "so she became so furious, went out and
bought a gun, and when he was asleep, she put the gun against his head, and
pulled the trigger, hey hey hey". Delivery is everything and it is flawless on
this album. Sneaky organ and poppy snare hits support the lyrics and don't ever
get in each others way. Even the first track which is recorded live is mixed
amazing and blends with the rest of the album perfectly.
John Hutchins did an amazing job with production on this album, a perfect match
of artists!
