Teeth Mountain - s/t

Teeth Mountain is a band from Baltimore that I had the opportunity to catch at a show here in Bloomington. Let it suffice to say that between three percussionists, noisy cello drones, organic synthesizer tones, and a creative musical saw player, this was a performance that blew the lid off of typical mid-west shows and ensnared the crowd in a hypnotic musical spell producing as much wonder as compelling everyone to dance like the apocalypse was imminent. The set was notably and successfully percussively driven and was laden with massive drones, and capped off with a jam on the Baltimore Beat and a fanatic chant of "Face down, ass up, that's the way we like to f**k", which was enthusiastically joined by the almost fanatic crowd. During the days preceding and following the show, I was lucky enough to meet the bold group that put on such a boisterous display and also get a copy of their self titled, limited edition debut album.

This band seems to have a multiple personality complex in terms of their recorded work as compared to their explosive live show, presenting themselves as an amorphous musical entity that defies easy descriptions. The album, which contains eight tracks of varying lengths, is a creative document of musical ideas and voices that shows a distinct musical palette through which this group of players successfully makes complex and downright catchy noise-based, percussive music. The CD is well recorded and successfully allows each song to speak in its own way, while forming a cohesive whole whose only drawback is the brief length. This band seems to be on a mission to bring as many people as possible into the world of noisy music without forcing their hand in any way. Upon seeing this band and subsequently listening to the album, it is clear that if they play their cards right we will be seeing and hopefully hearing a lot from this band in the near future.

A quick note on the packaging of the album: It is handmade and features a hand sewn plastic sleeve around a cardboard sleeve and small sheet of liner notes that feature creative collage work by one of the members of the band.

9.5/10 more information and ordering at www.myspace.com/teethmountain

(It is definitely worth the effort to track down one of these discs if you can't make it to a show, and if they do come your way be sure to catch them as their shows are downright mind-blowing fun and they need your support.)