Source: Album Artwork
If Kajagoogoo is a familiar name to any of you, it’s either because you’ve seen their LP’s in a box in your parent’s loft, or you’ve stumbled across them on one of those radio stations where all the DJ’s talk like Dave Clifton. Nick Beggs is a member of the avant-garde new wave outfit, but The Mute God’s debut release Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me sees him moving in an altogether more prog-rock direction, which you might have seen before with his turns as a contributing part of Steven Wilson’s ‘solo’ work.
Joined by Marco Minnemann and Roger King, everyone playing various instruments ranging from programming and synths to chapman stick, the trio serve up a quivering slice of contemporary prog that experiments with elements of genre, bringing in the glitzy melody of pop, the restless groove of freeform jazz and more besides. The title track kicks things off with samples that fade and overlap, a fast paced synth riff that sounds very 80’s sci-fi soundtrack, before additional instruments drop in by layers. Drums rattle off rapid snare fills, there’s a warm bass groove going on and held bluesy chords. Even with the anti-establishment focused lyrics, there’s a distinctive air of ‘Britishness’ to the vocal delivery, and with the mid-tempo, densely layered production job, it’s all quite reminiscent of Steven Wilson’s sound on albums like The Raven That Refused To Sing.
‘Praying To A Mute God’ is glitzy and polished, all swelling organs, bright pop melodies, a dizzying dual guitar solo and rolling drum grooves. ‘Feed The Troll’ brings unease with burbling synths, sleazy guitars and a decent bass line that grabs attention, coupled with a sense of drama and scope that reminds us of Dream Theater.
That’s when this album is good. When it shows it’s weaknesses, we end up with tracks like ‘Night School For Idiots’ super-kitsch, bad 70’s sitcom intro stylings with an unforgivable over-repetition of the song’s title throughout. ‘Your Dark Ideas’ is decent one minute and grating the next, atonal, mismatched layers building up to an uncomfortable cacophony.
If you listen to but one song from this, go for ‘In The Cross-Hairs’, a jam-rock oriented instrumental that has some excellent fill-heavy jazz drumming, gnarly guitar hooks and dark, wandering breakdowns. Otherwise, although well executed, instrumentally impressive and with lashings of studio polish, this album won’t convert anyone who isn’t already flying the prog banner.
