Monster Head Room

5/5

Monster Head Room

Ganglians

  1. gives it a: 5/5

    The comparisons to Brian Wilson are unavoidable, but can you honestly say anybody ever thought a lo-fi “Pet Sounds” would work before this? Nearly everything works perfectly here, from the straight up Beach Boys-worship of “Voodoo” and “Try to Understand” to the wistful pop of “Lost Words” and “To June,” and especially the trippier, harder rockers “Valient Brave” and “100 Years.” Even “The Void,” one of my least favorite tracks from the EP, is transformed into an intense and compelling headphone nightmare here. You can do a lot worse than ripping off the Wilsons, and if more bands in the lo-fi camp had this much ambition maybe the scene wouldn’t feel so stagnant.