Mona Medusa

"I enjoy listening to an album and getting a real feel for what the band likes doing. Mona Medusa's debut album, Shiver, makes no secrets about what this band loves, and that's layering up some rock sounds in blankets thick enough to sleep in.


Mona Medusa picked up a classic rock flavor, complete with a few choice blues licks, threw in some 90's alt-rock (dare I say "grunge"?) , a little post-punk (yes, shouting choruses too!), and did something really good: they made a cohesive rock sound out of it.


The opening track tells us instantly we are about to hear a rock album. But this is thinking man's rock and roll: spaces, tones, dynamics. A quiet energy is building, and taking its time.


What is Will Be plunges us in full force. The dry production is a little strange at first: I wanted something more assaulting, dirty, nasty. But it's a blessing, because there's these nice little bits of layering going on in the sound that might be lost if it weren't so clean. There's a very full rock sound going on here. The rhythm guitar and female vocals aren't accessories, they're essential to the sound.


Like you'd expect from a big rock sound, there's the quintessential synth effects going on here and there. That's always dangerous stuff. The sweeps on All Just Lame threaten to be overbearing, pushing aside the riffs and melodies we need to hear, but reins itself in well enough. There's a bit of clash in the sound sometimes (mostly the vocals), but the occasional roughness only serves to sharpen the edges of Mona Medusa's sound. This is a band not afraid to take risks and bust a few genres. There's no compromise in making sure the music stays rich and layered: you can feel the collective sweat from tracks like Catharsis and Ousire.


There's also a few more tracks like the beginning with a strong vocal and melodic instrumental presence. Water and Women (Reprise), and Fire and Glass give us a bit of a breather from the normally intense drive of the album without breaking the flow, then The Abyss takes us out of the album quietly, with a kind of mystery that makes you want a little more.


This whole "rich, layered sound" in rock music is tricky, so to not fall flat on its face is an accomplishment in itself. But Shiver pushes beyond that. This is a genuinely impressive first album. The thought put into writing the music is very much there. It's fair to say Shiver is a diamond in the rough, but it doesn't take any polishing to know this is a diamond worth keeping."

-Skid McGruff
Lychee Media - Lychee Media

Sunday, April 26, 2009

"Shiver" review - from one of our Listeners
"Did you guys make this album just for me? haha No seriously. I have to say it's damn good! . . .You guys do a fuck of a lot more than more mainstream bands put into one album, and rarely can I listen to an album all the way through, and aside from the Cure, there are very few bands I can do that with (not even the Pumpkins or Radiohead).

So yeah, in all seriousness, congratulations. You guys have come a LONG way since I played with you that first show--it's gotten a lot more polished, especially Mike and your vocals. There is still some roughness on the album, but that's nothing to fret over.

So anyway, back to my first comment, I always love albums that are more than just a collection of singles and do a lot to set the mood and motif for the whole thing--and well actually tries to be art-rock. That's why I love the Cure so much. So for instance, the sound portrait of the Abyss really made this album for me. Really made me feel like I was standing at the edge of the world gazing down into hell, and then the end leads so well back to the first song, it really gives the album a great sense of wholeness.

The lyrics are my favorite part. As much as I like the Smashing Pumpkins or even Radiohead / Muse, it's the lyrics that keep me from becoming a huge fan. A lot of people like them so maybe they just don't click with me. Personally I feel like their lyrics are weak and aren't very intellectually stimulating. But I love the images you guys evoke. I mean REALLY love it. I'm fucking serious here. This is the most evocative shit for me since the Cure. "I'm the upside of the end down" is fucking brilliant.

Also the length of the album I was worried about. But it's not too long, I'll say. It works really well and I have yet to get bored with it.

Anyway, as for some bands you guys sound like, a lot of people in my dorm said Mona sounds like if Franz Ferdinand and Queens of the Stone Age had a baby. But there's a lot of influences / sounds in here. I think any fan of early Cure would love it (mostly for the fucking awesome basslines, a requirement for any music I like).

In all honesty, I think you guys have a serious shot at making it." -Noah Leavitt, music correspondent (NUFS, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies. Nagoya, Japan) - Self-published