Stuck With Green
'Dull Unconscious Man'
(Self-released on cardboard CD)
MARK: 82/100
The Floridian duo is then back with 20 tracks lasting in all an hour and 19 minutes, a titanic work of Electro/Industrial representing a deign comeback going well beyond the usual comparisons with NIN, Garbage, The Lonely Island, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, and the likes.
The album breaks the ice marvellously with some thunderous basses of "Never Too Late", enriched by menacious beats and effected vocals along with a catchy refrain.
Public speaks by Bush, Nixon, Trump, Reagan, Hillary Clinton and other US big shots from the right and the left are mixed with disquieting sounds the way Joseph C and similar acts often used to delight us in "D.U.M. Protilius Remix", a song where occasional guitar lines are added to the intricate computerized texture in a consistently chaning manner. Obsessive and addicted, gotta love this anti-establishment track!
"Isolation Fornication" thumps on our eardrums threateningly and tenebrously, concocting Trent Reznor, some Marylin Manson and Aphex Twin yet more Electro and 80s (as if Stuck With Green were jamming with Kraftwerk). This is very likely the album's highlight.
From the Goth-Electro devoid of effected main vocals "Cemetery Promises" to the spooky instrumental composition "Chamber Music", where female voices of pleasure (or pain?) are heard in the background, the record gets up to the glacial and cybernetic "Long & Slow", worth alone the purchase of the CD. Think of a flagitious Hjörtur Blöndal.
Faithful to the title, "Footsteps in the Hallway" might easily be the soundtrack for a horror flick or documentary, whereas "Planting" is still Electro music but not creepy at all unlike the other tracks; it actually contains arrangements closer to certain Depeche Mode.
With the instrumental "Grinding Fear" darkness descends one more time and a drum machine is used for the first time, added to the stupendously elegant and inhuman arranging.
"Awareness Redefined" shows Electro-Pop tunes alà Hungry Ghost and I'm elated at being hypnotized by such vocals and such ensnaring synth lines.
Martial beats begin "Hiding Truth", continued by an inveigling refrain, while the title-track is Techno-Industrial and is the least interesting of the batch of tracks here presented.
Robotic vocals characterize "My Forgiven Soulmate", another well-composed track with stunning vocal hooks and effects.
The tracks from # 14 to 20 are instrumental versions of songs appeared previously on this album; as they're slightly different from the original ones they don't sound boring at all; in particular "Cemetery Promises" is far more macabre and vampiric and I prefer it without vocals; "Isolation Fornication" in this form is so pervasively perverse it makes me want to convince my wife's sister to bonk her!
Even without a decent budget, the US two-piece has released a professional product, which should in an ideal world one day be reprinted on a complete CD by a label instead of being out only in a cardboard CD or digitally. Unfortunately nowadays the situation is that record companies want bands to spend to have their songs released on CD, while on the other hand bands have little money and they choose to let their music out by themselves into a very crowded market almost totally digital (in order to please the audience with the exception of die-hard fans like me and others over 30 preferring the physical format for a number of reasons) with the depressing result of scarce promotion and distribution, as well as no booklet, no lyrics and no info, which brings to be marginalized and ignored.
This is a pity because Stuck With Green are skillful musicians whose strength is in top-notch songwriting, in that it's various and unforeseeable, yet easy to remember and addictive, together with an excellent choice of sounds. Do me favor, don't miss them again!
MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - June 2nd, 2016
Line-up on this
record:
Ron Potter - Programming electronic beats and synths, drum machine, Vocals, Guitars,
-Evan Zappa and the Necessity - synths
Contacts:
Davenport, FL - USA
E-mail: stuckwithgreen@yahoo.com
Official
sites:
https://stuckwithgreen.hearnow.com
http://www.stuckwithgreen.com/home
Demo-/Disco-graphy:
-Stuck With Green (2010)
-Crazy Love Remixes ( 2011)
-Apocalypse
-Songs I Made While Seeking More Love
-New Satire/Comedy Project
-Big Screen Sci-Fi
-Big Screen Dark Action
-Songs Dad Won't Let Me Sing (2014)
-Free and Clear Instrumentals (2016)
-Dull Unconscious Man (CD - 2016)
-On the Edge (Action Cues)
