Mamaleek is weird. There’s honestly no other word to describe the band. Every time the anonymous brothers from San Francisco and Beirut release music, the listener can never expect what to get. But the audience is always guaranteed to experience some of the most moving and engaging avant-garde records these days. Formed as a black metal-ish duo, Mamaleek has since blossomed into a full, proper band, one that actually plays shows and tours. They have always been described as “metal deconstructionists”, and no label has been more apt.
With the band’s nature of throwing curveballs after curveballs to the listeners (baseball pun fully intended), I feel like it’s better to describe this album by the images they conjure, rather than the usual sonic descriptions. First track “Tegucigalpa” coughs up imagery of an alcoholic Jiminy Cricket hopping in acid rain. Lead-off single “Vileness Slim” (referencing Vileness Fats?) Is a mellow affair, the bass playing hopscotch on the fretboard. “Vida Blue” is a fitting tribute to the Oakland Athletics’ legendary lefty pitcher, complete with horns and a second half of screamed vocals calling out the album’s muse’s name as if Mamaleek is summoning him from the other side. My personal favorite “Ancient Souls, No Longer Sorrowful” starts out as a groovy ditty that ends with a heartbreaking solo piano piece, and elsewhere, disjointed elements like Tom Waits-like doo wops pop up but somehow, these never sound out of place. Mamaleek are experts in discarding any notion of rules when it comes to songwriting which is why they are perennial sources of excitement for discerning music fans everywhere.
Like the titular pitcher of old, Mamaleek never misses. No-hitter after no-hitter LPs guaranteed to be caught only by those who want their music to be sonically as adventurous as possible.