Nevermen

IPECAC

Jan 28, 2016 Issue # 56 - Best of 2015 - Father John Misty and Wolf Alice By Hays Davis

Sometimes it's good to get out and mingle. Nevermen brings together Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Adam "Doseone" Drucker (Anticon label/collective founder), and Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, and more), with a genesis stretching back to early 2008. After Adebimpe and Drucker recorded a week's creative whirlwind they forwarded the results to Patton for his input and manipulation, eventually leading to studio time.

The three gel intriguingly as a vocal unit, and we get to hear them in seemingly every conceivable permutation. While the opening "Dark Ear" initially resembles a TV on the Radio blueprint, the picture suddenly blurs and flashes with heavier guitars and drums, along with a dark, spoken interlude. And when the catchy, chant-along section appears, it becomes clear that Nevermen might go anywhere.

"Wrong Animal Right Trap" also allows no stylistic moss to grow before flipping onto its back. Just when you might have it pegged as more of a straight-ahead rock tune, with pounding drums and stinging guitars, a synth buzz takes over before the sound dissolves into only a spare rhythm. And this description could be rewritten multiple times with different descriptions for the same song before its 3:24 plays out.

So many jerks of the steering wheel may not be for the faint of heart, but the trio coheres remarkably well, and the blizzard of ideas works like regular blasts of fresh oxygen or caffeine. Or both. (www.ipecac.com/artists/nevermen)

Author rating: 7/10

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Average reader rating: 7/10