Inouk – No Danger (Say Hey Records, 2004)
I almost love this band, but it almost sucks. I attribute that to the fact that the brothers McMahon are mostly responsible for the writing on this slab. While the two are not given separate credits for each song in the liner notes, their voices and individual interests are easily heard. One of these fellows enjoys the false-seto and an occasional Julian Casablanca impression, like on “Island”. While the other brother lets loose with his version of the country/folk sound on “Somewhere in France” and “Cherry Orchard”. But beyond this simple split personality, the band cranks out some lack luster disco drumbeats and some Radiohead sounding drudgery. When they come out and simply let it fly the results are just short of inspiring. But when they go on a quest to be creative, they’re just short of awful. A few tracks evoke some early-era Pink Floyd (“Elected”, “Nudie Suit”). Most confusingly, though, are the steady flow of references to nudity, childhood and birth. Frankly, I’m not smart enough to make something up that’s interesting, so I’ll end this all by saying only that they have three guitars.
Tracklisting:
01 – What I Want
02 – No Danger
03 – Elected
04 – Father’s House
05 – Search For The Bees
06 – With The Birds
07 – Somewhere In France
08 – Island
09 – Cherry Orchard
10 – Nudie Suit
11 – Victory