The album gets off to a strange start with the song “Dikembe Mutumbo”. Rhythmic chanting and drums kick off like a National Geographic sound clip gradually giving way to an ambient ocean of sound and distortion. The chanting then returns in new form in a unifying breath. Right away, the listener is drawn in to an act of catharsis. Negative emotions are stirred and cast out. If in doubt, try singing aloud to “Maverick”. Do it in the car so you can turn the volume up to a compromising level. If you don’t feel alive at the end of the track, you might already be dead.
Fans will be thrilled to discover some live T-Mammal classics captured in an official recording. Finally, you can take the time to really pore over the lyrics of songs like “Dream Girl” and “Shake WEight”, so the next time you catch a Treasure Mammal show you won’t have to mumble during the sing-alongs--and it’s always a sing-along.
Let me take a moment for “Bromance.” I love this song. I can’t hear it without singing. To discover “Bromance” on Checkognize made me almost giddy. Treasure Mammal achieves the nearly impossible balance of kitsch and message without sacrificing a sense of authenticity. How Treasure Mammal is able to create in this vein is truly remarkable and something extremely difficult to get your mind around.
Despite the awesomeness of Checkognize, Treasure Mammal is first and foremost a live band. I guess they’re more performance art than music or, rather, more participation art than anything. Live shows are an experience in polymorphous perversity. Like children or pre-Fall man, the Treasure Mammal dancers express both an ambiguity and unrestrained joy. Only this band could cover Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” with a synthesizer and really, truly make me believe it.
So make sure you get out to the release show for not only your own copy of Checkognize but also for the experience of participating in a Treasure Mammal show. And this one’s certain to be a doozy with bands like Roar and French Quarter joining the lineup.
Treasure Mammal, recently returned from tour, is set to release their latest album Checkognize on April 7th at the Trunk Space. This occasion also marks the band’s first ever 12” release so vinyl fans everywhere should be extra excited. I expected something a little more dreamlike and a little less primal than what I found on Checkognize, but the sense of emotional release achieved through listening elevates the album and the band to new heights.
