I have 2 words for you: PELICAN and ISIS. Really I could stop the review now. If they're your thing, you'll love this. I'm kind of liking it, but the problem with a lot of these bands is that the songs go on too long without a hook. Everything needs a hook. It's what makes people listen. Read Lester Bangs' essay "Every Song A Hooker" for more details. Regardless, the music is technically proficient and enjoyable. I just don't think I could fathom the patience to listen to it repeatedly. I drink too much and have the attention span of a gnat. I like simple and stupid. If you were to compare the last few things I listened to on my own to this then this is Mensa International. Speaking of which did I ever tell you about how they wanted to have me take the Mensa test? I guess they thought I was a bit slow on the uptake, but it turned out I was in fact just really bored. How punk rock is that? Anyway, there's some random screaming here and the first track feels longer than most epic songs. The shortest song on this disc is close to 5 minutes and the longest is 12 fucking minutes long. I've played this cd multiple times and I can never remember what it sounds like. Even listening to it now I couldn't tell you what they were doing 5 minutes ago. Seriously, that's not good. Like I said, zero hooks.

I guess if you like really excessively long songs with no real point, MOTA is your jam. I'm sure each song is supposed to be representative of something like the seasons or whatever. But for me it's just too much dry guitar with repetitive riffing. Too much "here comes the expansive part that touches my soul". It's just overindulgent. There's a reason no one showed up when Rick Wakeman tried to do a mini-rock opera of "The Sword In The Stone" on ice with 60 million Moogs in tow. There's a reason people remember bands like the CLASH but not ELP. Even progressive bands of that era like HAWKWIND and GENESIS knew how to make a hook and keep things interesting (I know I'm talking about bands of yore but I can't help drawing the line to them). I'm about to make my Guitar Center analogy but I'll refrain. Someone is going to be pissed and send me a nasty email over this, but whatever.

- Two Tub Tony

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/mouthofthearchitect

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: The Worm

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