Sleepytime Gorilla Museum/Secret Chiefs 3 @ El Rey, 3/23THESIS: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is the perfect band.
EVIDENCE:
1) They suture together progressive rock, avant-garde jazz, lite opera, the heaviest of heavy metal and seedy industrial music in such brazen fashion that they become totally unique by default.
2) Each member of the band is a virtuoso at his or her instrument, several of which were designed by bassist/producer Dan Rathbun (e.g. The Slide-piano Log, the Electric Pancreas and the Pedal-action Wiggler).
3) They cloth their CDs, lyrics and stage show in an elaborate and dark eschatological philosophy, which they may or may not believe.
4) They all look great in dresses and frocks, including (especially?) the boys.
5) Ghoulishly wonderful front-thing Nils Frykdahl is a riveting performer, often mumbling shaggy-dog stories and contorting his body in all sorts of pretzel shapes.
6) Sleepytime Gorilla Museum "get" that a rock show is way more than just a staged version of what you hear on the CD - expect visual trickery, gobs of facepaint, perhaps some dancing, and magical re-arrangements of your old SGM favorites.
7) They take themselves seriously enough to practice a whole hell of a lot, but they're silly enough tp wear dresses and frocks and mumble hilarious shaggy-dog stories on stage (see numbers 4 and 5).
8) They recognize and champion quality strange music - as on their last tour, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's opening act is Secret Chiefs 3, the "spaghetti eastern" avant-rock instrumental group masterminded by Mr. Bungle alum and Web of Mimicry founder Trey Spruance.
If you aren't flabbergasted, nonplussed, perplexed, flummoxed and turned on by a Sleepytime Gorilla Museum concert, you aren't listening. And with a new album just about ready for release on The End records, the band has plenty of material to listen to. Just go. Work on your taxes later. Or do them at the show, SGM can probably help you out. Just go. (ER)
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