A New Kind Of Hop Time, A New Kind Of Monk Time!
M. McKay | Downey, CA United States | 03/03/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"First off, the 2-CD set has some brilliant moments, some good moments, and of course some not so good moments. It's awesome to hear bands, some relatively known and some relatively unknown, take on the unique songs of The Monks. One of rock's most revolutionary unknown bands. I became a fan apon viewing a Beat Club performance uploaded on the website You Tube in February of 2006. I purchased "Black Monk Time" that March, "Five Upstart Americans" that May, then I attended the world premiere of their independent documentary "The Transatlantic Feedback" on July 1st in L.A. and met bassist Eddie Shaw and banjo player Dave Day! That's how strongly I feel about this band. I love The Monks!
I feel fans will be divided on this CD, some peferring the ambient-techno songs mostly found on CD-1 as opposed to the more straight ahead rock renditions of Monk tunes found on CD-2. I personally play CD-2 more. The best song on this whole set is International Noise Conspiracy's take on "Shut Up." The intense interplay between the bass and drums in worth the price of admission alone! There are two Monk-sample songs, "Monk Hop" and "Blaster" (featuring samples of "Blast Off" none the less). Small excerpts of Dave Day's interview in the documentary are sprinkeled here and there in songs. Barbra Mason does a great version of "I Can't Get Over You" slowing the tempo down a bit from the ska-influenced original. The 5.6.7.8's version of "Cuckoo" is insane, an Asian girl group singing in broken English complete with a pedal steel guitar and barrel-house piano, no joke! Gary Burger proves to be a great vocalist with Faust on closing cut "Beware The Transatlantic Feedback," a heavy industrial number on which Burger's vocal rants sound perfect. And the whole thing kicks off (after one opening intrumental), with a new updated version of "Monk Time" on which Gary Burger declairs "WHY DO YOU KILL ALL THOSE KIDS OVER THERE IN IRAQ?! GEORGE BUSH, WHO'S HE?!" Yes The Monks are here and "with it" in this decade, and they still rock. I recommend this CD set to ALL Monk fans and anyone interested in ambient, techno, or krautrock. Hopefully those who've never heard of The Monks will hear them now."