The first three seconds of I Am The Fun Blame Monster, the first Menomena album, is almost as overwhelming as the band's eye-blistering website. Then, as the album settles in, you realize that "I Am The Fun Blame Monster" is really just an anagram for "The First Menomena Album" and that the next forty-five minutes will be quite an adventure. Actually, you realize all of this before you even get the CD out of the case because the case is an eighty-page flip book animating not only the band but the album title from "I Am The Fun Blame Monster" to its anagrammatical counterpart.
The anagram is really just a hint of the detail and attention that went into I Am The Fun Blame Monster. To aid in the band's efforts, band member Brent Knopf wrote a computer program called "Deeler" which he describes as being "a loop-based program that facilitates improvisational recording." While albums based on improvisational techniques and computer programs are often much cooler in theory than on tape/cd/record, the music Menomena capture on I Am The Fun Blame Monster surpasses the appeal of the theory simply because it is so good you can disregard the theory.
So instead of a conversation like this:
"Hear this? This shit is awesome!"
"What do you mean? It sounds like a cat walking around on a keyboard or something."
"Yeah, but these guys made their own instruments and composed the songs based solely on the random throw of a die."
"Oh, wow! This shit is awesome!"
You get a conversation like this:
"Hear this? This is the first Menomena album and it is the shit!"
"Yeah, I'm digging this, it definitely is the shit."
See, you can disregard all the qualifications. The songs stand up on their own independent of the technique. In addition to light, bouncy bass lines, pop compositional staples like well-placed vocal harmonies and drum breaks also make appearances. I know that none of this really explains how I Am The Blame Monster sounds, but I guarantee it is worthy of checking out and if you don't like it there is just something wrong with you.