Killjoy Confetti – The Fun Is

Killjoy Confetti – The Fun Is / 2005 Wooden Man Records / 11 Tracks / http://www.killjoyconfetti.com / http://www.woodenmanrecords.com / Reviewed 28 September 2005

It is honestly hard to really assign Killjoy Confetti with a specific style of music. Comparison between them and other diverse and experimental bands may do better justice; the band during tracks like “Excuse The Blood” really mix Nico-era Velvet Underground with Patti, using progressive, Queens of the Stone Age-type of rock to fuel the track. The challenge that Killjoy Confetti really give their listeners during the opening two salvos of “The Fun Is” is to stick with them through two lengthy tracks. The band suffers during the late part of both of the tracks, not necessarily because there is a musical weakness revealed but rather an arrangement weakness.

The music’s experimentative sound tends to fall out by these later sections, revealing to the listener that the band just does not know where to go. The arrangements are interesting everywhere else; the guitar work is particularly impressive, using all styles, tempos and sounds to create something that like the mythical Proteus can (almost) never be pinned down. “Try Danielson” really reduces the progressive rock style of the previous track and has Killjoy Confetti move (forward?) in time to the halcyon days of Sonic Youth and early Jets to Brazil; the results is a musically challenging but euphonic track. It seems that the band reinvents themselves between tracks; thus, the instrument-heavy “Shirts of Fire” has the band work with nuanced, silent guitar lines and choir-like vocals in a way that does not have a parallel anywhere on “The Fun Is”. Just as quickly, the sonic assault (that for me is reminiscent of Sixty Stories) of “Neer Neer” reverses any changes made, delighting listeners with drum/vocal breakdowns that move the band (briefly) into the jerky-dance of bands like Franz Ferdinand.

The diverse array of styles and sounds found on “The Fun Is” really makes Killjoy Confetti comparable to a well-oiled troupe of actors. Each track reads more like a short play than an act in one specific work; there is a welcome lack of cohesion as the band feels in noway bound to creating anything but the best music they possibly can. The great thing is that Killjoy Confetti could come up with different albums using the exact same creative process and never once be chided for a lack of innovation. This destructured, decontexualized music is the freshest thing to come out easily in the last few months, and Killjoy Confetti really came to this commendation without the promo sheets or media push that so many other, less-deserving acts have.

Top Tracks: My Lip Is Bleeding, But I Am Fine , Excuse The Blood

Rating: 7.5/10