Lunch of Champions

I ate a lot, then I fell in love with Middlepicker.

I’ve been doing a lot of eating lately. Today, I ate half a burrito, a piece of chocolate cake with hard white chocolate swirls on top, a bowl of chips and salsa, and I drank a can of Barq’s root beer. And that was only lunch. Am I getting fat? Indeed I am. Do I need to cut down on the crap I am eating? Affirmative, Captain Colburn!

But my addiction to food is only part of the problem. I have also been listening to way too much music since I started this blog. For example, Royalty, Etc. Records sent me four albums to listen to last week. And I hate it when good labels like Royalty, Etc. do this to me, because, invariably, the music is good, and I want to listen for hours and hours on end.

Middlepicker - Subtle Sway - The Friction Slows

Well, those bastards at Royalty, Etc. Records can kiss my ass. Their band, Middlepicker, has been playing melodies in my head for the past week now. Middlepicker’s “Middlepicker Brings the Nasty” is an album that makes me smile. Not since the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ “The Impression that I Get” have I felt the urge to yell along with choruses on any record. These bastards in Middlepicker can all go to hell for providing me with such an enjoyable record!

I was planning on spending this week working on designing some web applications, but instead I have found myself bobbing my head while looking blankly at my computer screen as songs such as “The Friction Slows” (the album’s finest track) and “The Nasty” blast in my living room.

There is a lot of original work on this album. The album’s sixth track, “Overdrive”, features an almost annoying growl of a rhyming pattern that is followed by one of the catchier lyrical riffs I have ever heard, unfortunately, I can’t discern what is being said… Send me some lyrics, fellas!
One thing I really enjoy about “Middlepicker Brings the Nasty” is the band’s ability to utilize chromatic shifts to build the songs up. The seventh track on the album, “Hark!”, does this beautifully, while at the same time showcasing some formidable guitar syncopations. This chromatic shift is built over a beautiful crescendo of drums, and the effect is enthralling.

It is always nice when an album sticks to a theme and takes it all the way through to fruition, and Middlepicker leaves no question that they rock through and through. The album features no slow songs, as the band sticks to what they do best - Rock.

Summary: The only thing that would have made this album better is if I was able to find the lyrics online. I want to sing along with this record!