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Perhapst is his side-project band where he takes over on guitar and vocal duties. I actually had no idea what to expect because results can vary when a drummer moves from the back to the front of the band. (I wasn’t expecting something like the Foo Fighters though)

I was quite impressed hearing Maryanne and Incense Cone as it showed off both pop and folk sensibilities.

The album starts off with “Quote”. It’s an interesting choice to begin the album as it’s just jumping right into things. I actually kind of hate the choice as an opener; it just doesn’t work well for me to starts things off. The song itself isn’t bad but openers do have set the tone or pace. Going from track to track, it’s easy to see that the music is all over the place. It’s more of a collection of 12 songs rather then an album per se. In that sense it’s good and bad, as an album it feels like a mess but I do appreciate the talent that John Moen and Perhapst can display.

There are songs I really like, no song is ultimately bad but I do have trouble going through track by track in order. I really liked the album on the first few listens but the overall messiness doesn’t give it as much replay value. I would say Perhapst is comparable to Chad VanGaalen on the folk experimental side of things though Perhapst has more pop sensibilities and a geekier/fun/sillier bravado.

If for nothing else but to show off John Moen’s talents then it succeeds but again I don’t really have a certain feel for the album. It goes all over the place using a variety of instruments, horns on “Caution” while being excellent as standalone songs. I do like Perhapst’s tracks when they keep it simple. Moen has an excellent that he too plays with often but it works well in all situations.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5
I’m not too ecstatic about the album as it’s not high on replay value but when analyzing a lot of the tracks, they are all pretty good.

Hyper Planets by Perhapst
Incense Cone by Perhapst

Tags: album