Review by Rachel Jablonski
Woah, look out. Put in the full length album Nice, Nice from the band called Cougars and you might be blown a step back from your stereo. Not necessarily due to loud volume or heavy distortion, the real reason you may be taken aback is due to an almost indescribable instrumental chaos. With eight members in the band you would probably expect to hear a busy sound, but to me the seemingly random and uncorrelated noise is almost like nails on a chalkboard.
The album is a weird blend of a ska-ish punk rock mix combining horns and keyboards with the general rock instruments. Screechy vocals and short choppy songs comprise the album which seems overly long in duration. If you enjoy an ensemble of musical instruments and/or you are frequently looking for noise with which to annoy your mother, this album may be for you.
The song I can most grab a handle on is definitely “She Can Wear Gold.” This track contains an electronic element that seems to pull the piece together, temporarily releasing the album from utter chaos. Though the horns are incorporated slightly better in this song, they still seem to be an out of place distraction. The typical song formula on the album seems to be: start with rock guitar, break in horns and beeps and hard to swallow vocals, occasionally sprinkle in some keys. And there you have it. Similar sounding computerized beeps and continuously out of synch vocals are consistent and persistent throughout the album. Monotony is broken up on a few occasions, notably in “Mustard is Pissed” where a sharp surge, sounding like one of those mosquito killer light things doing its job of zapping, is present.
To be fair, as you listen to Nice, Nice you somehow become accustomed to the sound, but this album is not something you could listen to every day.