Menagerie - The Concise Guide

 

In response to the unparalleled triumph of last year’s legendary EP, “The Inexplicable Misadventures of The Exploding Breakfast Society”, a new release from said ensemble has now seen the light of day, this time in the long-playing format. Entitled “Menagerie”, the record gathers a diverse range of musical creatures and beasts, born and bred in the Society’s zoological laboratory. Some of them loud and raucous, others shy and brooding, all of them trained to perform spectacular tricks guaranteed to dazzle and delight even the most discerning of listeners. Under starter’s orders are: 

Side 1

1. Synaesthesia. A funny little word, difficult to pronounce, not to mention spell, meaning “the fact of experiencing some things in a different way from most other people, for example experiencing colours as sounds, experiencing shapes as tastes, or feeling something in one part of the body when a different part is stimulated” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary). A joyous love song to a girl with a very loud voice as well as a peculiar smell.
2. On a Friday Afternoon. The protagonist wakes up after an uneasy night plagued by troubled dreams, brought on by an ill-advised overindulgence in rich cheese. Things inevitably take a turn for the philosophical.
3. Menagerie. A thought-provoking allegory of the human condition in contemporary society. Please do not tap the glass.
4. Ermintrude Takes Flight. A classic bildungsroman, set to music. A subtle coming of age drama with decidedly aeronautical overtones.
5. In an Old-Fashioned Rocket-Ship. Another gripping tale about aviation, on the extraterrestrial scale this time. Where is our man now? Floating alone through the vast unknowable void, no doubt, with little hope of making it home in time to feed the meter. At least he has his bassoon to play with.
6. The Odyssey. A travel themed number, once again, albeit more earthbound then previous efforts. In an interesting variation on the traditional quest theme, the hero sets out in search of unmentionable treasures, faces unexpected obstacles along the way and, in an unexpected plot twist that is likely to leave the listener breathless in a strangely contorted position, is ultimately frustrated just when the goal seems in reach.

Side 2

1. The Hound of Death. A horror story on the theme of fur allergy. Best keep the antihistamine at hand.
2. The Milkman’s Apprentice. A socratic dialogue, disguised as a slice of everyday life, in which the notion of absolute truths is finally rejected in favour of a rhetorical superposition placing the subject outside the dichotomous paradigm.
3. Slugs. A dystopian vision of a world where “everything is turning topsy-turvy”. Pure fantasy, of course.
4. The Candyfloss Debate. A deceptively simplistic little ditty, hiding great depths under the surface. The listener is left with questions, rather than answers. What is the band singing? What are the pretty maids bringing? And what’s so bad about moss, anyway?
5. Multi-Coloured Grey. An ode to the mind altering properties of the Camellia sinensis plant, a substance used for recreation and enlightenment since ancient times. The listener is advised to explore with caution.
6. A Park With Bumblebees. Of all our days, lived and gone, who can say which moments will be immortalised by imperfect memory? The camping trip with uncle Hildebrand in 1982, when it rained for three weeks and nobody had brought wellies, building a treehouse in the perfect tree and then hiding there for days on end, putting out the bins last Wednesday morning; poignant remembrances of long lost time. The narrator’s mind is flooded with fragmented imagery in this musical madeleine. And on that note, the listener is encouraged to relive the not-too-distant past by turning the record over and starting from the top again!

Listen to "Menagerie" (Spotify link).