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MenomenaFriend and Foe

Sometime in the early 2000s, three friends from the Portland area (Danny Seim, Brent Knopf and Justin Harris) decided to make music together, music that was different from the more conventional rock bands they’d been in before.

To make this new music, they use a computer program written by Knopf called Deeler. The band calls this program “a glorified guitar loop-pedal,” and using such loops, they write and arrange their songs, adding vocals later.

Danny primarily plays drums, Brent plays guitar and keyboards, and Justin plays bass, keyboards and sax. They all sing lead on different songs. In 2003, they self-released I Am the Fun Blame Monster, an album which was 99 percent recorded with one microphone. Then they were picked up by local label, Film Guerrero, and given a rave review on Pitchfork, which helped launch the band into the national indie spotlight. In 2005, they released Under an Hour, a collection of three long, instrumental compositions that the band created for the dance group, Monster Squad.

Next week, Menomena releases their third album, Friend and Foe, a dazzling collection of 12 utterly unique and mesmerizing songs. The album gives and gives more with each listen. And, not to take anything away from I Am the Fun Blame Monster, which had its lo-fi charm, but the recording quality on Friend and Foe has definitely gone up a notch, most notably with the drums sounding a little more professionally recorded. There’s a clarity and sonic precision to the album that gives it a little sparkle that the past two albums lacked.

The album begins with “Muscle ‘n’ Flo,” a song about waking up, facing the day and making some noise. It begins with a drum fill, and then cuts to Harris singing over a bubbling bass line. It’s a mid-tempo song that at times recalls the Flaming Lips. Later, some glorious church organ and choir take over, and the song just takes off. It’s truly brilliant.

The next song, “The Pelican” is reminiscent somewhat of TV on the Radio, especially in the vocal melody, but you can also picture a cracked-out Paul McCartney pounding out the piano part and howling out the vocal line.

“Wet & Rusting” is the lead single, i.e. the one that’s been on mp3 blogs for the past month or two. It begins with some ominous, low keyboard tones that sound maybe backwards, another higher keyboard moans out a melody while some fractured samples beep up high, and Brent sings a double tracked vocal about a friend unraveling and a secret traveling. Then the musical palette switches to a piano, acoustic and electric guitar, and glockenspiel. Finally, a minute and a half into the song, the bass and drums enter into the mix-an uncommon arrangement for an indie rock song. Then Danny’s vocal countermelody enters the scene and the drums stay active and alert, keeping you guessing. It’s a classic example of a Menomena song; you can listen to it a dozen times and hear something different every time. Melodies and harmonic fragments enter and exit the mix with some regularity. Not in an annoying way, like the band just threw every one of its ideas on tape and couldn’t decide what was worth keeping. On the contrary, the songs are meticulously crafted and the musicians are ceaselessly creative. They know what they are doing and the creative confidence displayed here and throughout the album is refreshing and inspired.

There are sonic intricacies and crazy melodic ideas at play so often, through so much of the album, that as soon as it’s over, you’ll want to just press play again. It’s brilliant, rousing, inspiring, but with enough dark moodiness, you can’t help but wonder how they think of this stuff. Even Craig Thompson’s illustrated cover art is brilliant, but that might deserve an article unto itself. For now, get Friend and Foe, because it gives endless hours of enjoyment.