Three 65, Day 21
Fishbone, Give A Monkey A Brain And He'll Swear He's The Center Of The Universe

Heh - my friend John is going to hate that I picked this album as my first Fishbone record review for the new blog. John hates this album, and I can perfectly understand why. After three albums of perfecting ska-punk-funk to a level bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers only dream of, Fishbone kind of threw it all away here, focusing on their metal side instead.

But, Monkey was my first Fishbone album, and I'm extremely nostalgic about it. The opening track, the crushing "Swim," was my first introduction to Fishbone, and it remains one of the band's more unique numbers. Under a punishing guitar riff, the band's singers - of which there are multiple, although Angelo Moore is the principal voice - wax eloquent in growls and groans about the wonders of moshing. It's an odd choice for the band's opening number, but Pantera would kill to have this kind of groove.

The next two tracks hurt the band's usually care-free stance even more: "Servitude" thrashes like Living Colour and "Black Flowers" - which John absolutely, totally, cannot stand - is a full on power ballad. But after that, on "Unyielding Conditioning" (one of the last songs founding member Kendall Jones wrote, before going fucking nuts and leaving the band for a cult), something amazing happens: The metal completely disappears. Over a vigorous horn section, the band bops and weaves its way through a delightfully sunny song that dispels all of the clouds summoned on the first three tracks. Pity record label Columbia chose to cut the song off towards the end, just as it gets going. "Conditioning" is still quite often the opening number at most Fishbone concerts.

Other highlights include the Mr. Bungle-esque "Drunk Skitzo" (on which Branford Marsalis lays down a killer sax solo), the ferocious "Warmth Of Your Breath" (I love any song that eviscerates cops, especially one that ends with a policeman licking his K9's ass), and the warm "Lemon Meringue." Also of note is the glorious P-funk of "Properties Of Propaganda" and the mellow "They All Have Abandoned Their Hopes."

I hope I've done a good job of pointing out the album's strengths here, um, John. Fishbone would go on to make more albums, and some of them were quite good. Try to catch them if they come to your town - despite their age, or perhaps because of it, they have the kind of veteran live experience few bands possess.