Ugly Casanova
Sharpen Your Teeth
Sub Pop
Ugly Casanova is made up of Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse along with members of Red Red Meat and Black Heart Procession, and like many side projects, it sounds pretty much like the bands that birthed it. If released under the Modest Mouse moniker, nobody would blink. It wouldn’t be as heralded as 2000’s The Moon & Antarctica, but enjoyed nevertheless. Things might be a little more discordant on Sharpen Your Teeth, and perhaps more of a nod is shown to contemporary beats, but Brock’s voice and songwriting is as challenging (or annoying, depending on your taste) as ever. The instrumentation is of the “kitchen sink” variety, meaning a banjo rubs elbows with a “singing saw” or backwards guitar. All of Brock’s music is somewhat unsettling, and Ugly Casanova perhaps more so, maybe because it’s a bit “spacey” as compared to previous work. Bottom line, if you like Brock in Modest Mouse, you’ll like this. If you don’t, then why did you read the review, huh?
Sub Pop Records: http://www.subpop.com
