Skeletons - Money

Skeletons
Money
(11.2008, Tomlab)
Verdict = Ridiculously ambitious and surprisingly wonderful

My goodness, here is a surprise. Usually around late-November/December everything is on cruise control which makes an album like this one all the more shocking when it blips on the radar. Skeletons (formerly with various addendums attached to their names but now gloriously bare) have created a monster with Money, their fifth or sixth full length album and first for Tomlab. So what’s the big surprise? We are pretty familiar with monsters here at FG. Why is this album so surprising? Well, I guess an intrinsic part of it is that Money embodies something fresh so it is kind of hard to classify. Money is just alive and I don’t know if there is any other way to put it. There is a fluidity here, something “organic,” something with pulsing lungs, a beating heart and, happily, a brain. Another part of it is that it is big. Not necessarily in size (though it clocks in at a healthy 50 plus minutes) but in its philosophical breadth and creative makeup – Money is just big, like monstrously big. As such, you might imagine that Money isn’t any breezy fast food pop. Skeletons have created something that requires a bit of digestion, but don’t confuse that with indigestion cuz Money’s got nutrients! The album uses the ten track album format to encase a sprawlingly ambitious fusion of avant indie rock with R&B, jazz and world music. Its is definitely odd, but after an introductory trial run, the prancing guitar lines, flush brass, skittery drum passages and thick rhythms will have undoubtedly sparked an intrigued grin. Delving deeper into Money will only expand that intrigue into satisfaction and then to elation. It is just one of those rare ambitious albums that has been fully realized; a classic that can be enjoyed front to back. Skeletons have continually proved themselves to be in the same blissful, forward thinking realm as equally creative bands like The Dirty Projectors or Zs and should be likewise celebrated. Money is their evidence.

-Mr. Thistle

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