ADULT RODEO
The Kissyface (Shimmy Disc)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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The geographical trail the Adult Rodeo forged on the way to this album, from Florida to Rhode Island to New York to Texas to the San Francisco Bay area, provides a clue to the sounds you'll find encoded on The Kissyface.

Blending a variety of acoustic instruments with electric keyboards, sequencers and otherwise unidentified sources of sound, the trio of musical bronc busters ride, rope and wrestle a soundscape that shifts from country shuffles to mutant reggae to dub bluegrass, with a few even less probable side trips along the way. As one observer noted, in many ways they're the Adult Rodeo Clowns.

It's a mistake, though, to let their abundant sense of humor and adventure totally distract you from the more serious, and sometimes poignant, elements of the music on this disc. They may have found the keys to Santa's workshop, but these are no babes in toyland. There's a definite order underlying the sometimes chaotic appearance of their purpose, and there are some excellent songs hiding behind the dots, loops, strums, bangs and twisted harmonies. For the patient listener, something wonderful begins to unfold through the twentythree tracks on Kissyface. It may take that long, or even a few listens, to get it, but it's well worth getting.

Track List: Through The Door * Dragon * Bad Morning * Empty Space * You Are 4 Me * Bluegrass Coffee * If Skirts Don't Grow * Outside The Me Show * View From The Inside * Cut And Paste * Mantona Montana * Nothing To Offer * Ears And Eyes * They Though Know Though * No Flattery * Coco Hailey * Co-Facilitator * I Do Not Know * Glastron Johnson * Tight Blue * Redwood County/Death And Eternal Life * Rainin' * Water

© 1999 - Shaun Dale