The Moppets
Gregory Peck Has a Headache
Unsigned

See lunakafe's profile on The Moppets.

"Like a Motherfucking Saschwatch" is a 5-step loop of the 8-syllable phrase. Behind this is an opera singer, a synthesizer that grows into a wall, and some other subtle weird sounds. The beat is fucked up and great. A hell of a way to open the album, this song is one of the strangest I've ever heard. "Electric Whales" uses a lo-fi 2-chord string loop to house whobbly turntable toning. These two songs are produced exclusively by Richard Fronteer and serve as an intro for the record. "The Moppetsville Shuffle (the way i walk" is the first song proper, and the first hit. Lefty Loosie drums a record and plays accordian over Fronteer's dirty 7-step synth beat. The song allows itself to almost fall apart at the end. "Wolves is Comming", another full 3 minute song, features a gangster-ass Fronteer beat under Lefty's daft cuts and drum machine. In a move that is becoming signature, the song signals its denouement with a left-field sample. "All We Are is Dust in the Rain" is another damned catchy and elusively incricate 3 1/2 minutes of Moppetsville. There's a plethora of sounds; this album sure doesn't age fast. "See You in Tokyo (i hate the world)" moves the album into more understated but way darker territory. While it's a dark humor piece, this song is quite serious and combines well with "The Train Ride". Leaf guests to produce "Train Ride" along with Human Pippi Armstrong. The attention to detail again intrigues me here. So many sounds that are made to fit. Clocking in at 3:55, "The Kids Don't CARE" is the longest song yet on the record. It also seems to be the cleanest, neatest, or most hi-fi tune. May just be the catchiest so far too. "The Kids Don't CARE" is a fine song, one of the best on the album. "Ground Break" is an interlude that will surprise you, but not badly. It signals the midpoint of the album.

I'm breaking here at the end of the A side to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I suggest something similar.

"I leapfrog to the sound of the gangster beat". "Leapfrog Popcorn Sutton" is 2 minues long, uses an Eastern sounding Fronteer 6-step, and Lefty plays his accordian. "Skyler Schoolslittle Child TV Star (theme song)" is funny as hell. Makes a lot of sense for this to be the theme of the album. "You Should Quit" is a darker humor piece. "You should never traumatize women sexually. I should know; I'm a medical doctor". "Too Late for Doorknob Creaker" is one of Human Pippi's own songs, and the longest on the album at 4:26. While long, it remains understated throughout. Lefty's drum machine carries the beat again here. This is a nice song that allows itself to be perhaps a bit more refined than anything else we've heard on this record. "Fred Lobster in the Woods" sounds more like The Moppets. The samplework and cuts are buried in the sound, but if you listen closely you'll hear how damned good they are. "The Day California Broke from the Country" is a downright scary song, if you allow the imagery to take you. "Silk Slipmats" is a great single. This probably represents Mr. Fronteer's best work on this album. Lefty's drum machines and turntable toning propel that beat. This song is made even better by the beautiful surprise that ends it. You'll hear. "It's time for BEEF Wellington and the Cespool MCs" begins the album's denouement. And a sad one it is. "A Sad Sad Situation" is a damned fine minute and a half song that uses the incredible bass tone from "Schoolslittle". "The Fight Sequence" gets dirty and loud, and then "The Casket Rolls Through Town" concludes the story with more incredible imagery. The prologue, "The Funeral" features a snippet of Richard Fronteer's MCing abilities, something that has rarely made it to tape at this point. Again, intense imagery sends the listener to the Moppet's world, a world that has been allowed to be born, live and die on this incredible record.

An intriguing and hard-worked collaborative-debut from two of North Carolina's most promising unsigned music-makers.

Copyright © 2005 $100 Bill Banks