Minmae

Le Grand Essor de la Maison du Monstre (Greyday)

By Anne C. Johnson
Published: August 22nd, 2006 | 4:46pm

Le Grand Essor de la Maison du Monstre, or (“The Great Flight of the Monster House”) refers to the home of Haida Chief Wiah once located on the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, not terribly far from Portland, Oregon, from which Minmae hails. This ninth effort from the trio is another exercise in “deconstructing music through sound” that travels some very familiar, yet not unpleasant musical terrain.

One of Minmae’s attributes is their unpredictability. Take the lead track, “Cold Room, So. Pacific,” a meandering and yes, unpredictable, nine-and-a-half minutes long, as a case in point. Consider it a line drawn straight away in the sand to show that Minmae isn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. It’s fairly easy to settle into the sparsely, yet effectively layered arrangements and even a little unnerving when songs end before the five minute mark. Guess that is just one aspect of their capricious nature.

To say that Minmae is influenced by Sonic Youth is simply indisputable and several songs, including “Cold Room, So. Pacific” and “(To Edit) Quickfingerz” — even if it sounds as though Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard named it — are naked imitations. Minmae shimmers when Sean Brooks’ vocals lose their affected tunelessness and he sings wistfully and honestly of youthful exuberance, i.e. (“Once-Cocked Gun”), and of his native Portland on “I Was at Johnny’s and He Played Phil Ochs). They excel, especially, when they build upon their influences rather than blatantly channeling them (“Where’s the Fashion,” “The Winking Lass”). Kill your idols, remember?