Album Details

• Artist: Theeannoying
• Album: Composition I
• Label: Edgetone
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2011-07-07

Power Trio lead by vocalist/guitarist Ten Ticklish Ants, TheeAnnoying do not, in fact, annoy, but impress. Their brand of noisy, minimal post-rock blends humor, mild disgust and rant; "Composition !" is a confident, experimental debut worth its grit.

On the disc itself, the eleven tracks are of a piece, "movement," and numbered I-XI. On the press release, the eleven songs have titles, so go figure. I'll go by the press release, per roll of the dice. Punk and the cut-up sound bite are the bedrocks for these songs, which occasionally betray their influence, while at other times leap out into their own territory. "Population Bomb" is straight-on Stooges, complete with useless piano buried in the mix; "Special Patrol" echoes the Dead Kennedys, sans the dripping bile. Despite a frantic bass line (courtesy M.Mersereau) that is almost funky, "Donation Fatigue" is old school punk with little variation from the template.

The DNA-ish "Iris Eyed" is classic No-Wave, with down tuned jittery guitar, muddy and occasionally disturbing vocals, and a desolate but arty groove. "Tsavo," "Fade Away" and "Durable Machines," the opener and the final two tracks, respectively, can be seen as a piece, featuring abstract but insistent two chord melodies with more pronounced spoken word clips, the topics wavering between political interview and hypnotism.

Chaotic but ragged and thus right, TheeAnnoying have a winner. "Composition I" is powerful, messy, hip and surprising.

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