Description
Famous Mammals were already going to be fantastic the moment they decided to form as a pandemic avocation in 2020, considering they’d been birthed from the flames of recent Oakland, CA scene-definers Rays, The World and Andy Human & The Reptoids. Yet when their wonderfully sharp & confounding self-titled tape came out in 2021, they were better than that, even. Their initial sound clicked along, searched and then found oblique treasure in a deep DIY post-punk void one might associate with 39 Clocks or the Swell Maps – sometimes aggressively sharp and pointed, other times given to captivating and off-centered murky quaalude meandering in all the ways you love.
I’m a big fan of Stanley Martinez’ vocals and guitar, and have been since the first time I saw & heard Rays, and he transported his A-game to a recording session yet again. Likewise Amber Sermeno – we all swooned for her fronting The World, and while we only get one lone track w/ her vocals, it might even be the best thing on here: the chugging & propulsive “Unspoken Chair”. Andy Human – well, that guy just moves from strength to strength, excelling as a bass player here and general instrumental conductor of an echoey and wide-open sound partially transported from the hinterlands, moors… more
credits
released April 22, 2024
Stanley Martinez – Vocals, Electric Guitar, Viola, Belgian Siren, Vacuum, Radio, Alto Saxophone, Fluxus Chairs, Percussion
Andy Jordan – Bass, Electric Piano, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals, Upright Piano, Chord Organ, Whistles, Percussion
Amber Sermeno – Viola, Vocals, Footsteps
Camille Ian – Reads Flora Tristan
Whippany Melo-Sonic – Drums
Recorded and Mixed in West Oakland, Brussels, Parc de Forest, Saint-Gilles – October 2020 – March 2021
Artwork by Famous Mammals
Mastered by Mikey Young
Inscrutable #4
