The John Francis and Imposters - Earnest Manboy Suite in E Major
by
Paul Barile
Jan. 06
Earnest Manboy Suite in E Major appears to be some type of
concept album. This 15-minute disc opens with a typewriter clack
accented by slurps of coffee. From there it degenerates into something
that resembles music.
The John Francis and Imposters are singer/guitarist John Francis and a
drummer who goes by the name ILK. This kind of intellectual masturbation
promises 15 minutes of your time that you will never get back. The
wailing guitar and the booming percussion are textured with the rolling
for the typewriter carriage and the clickety-clacks on the keys.
The frustrating thing about Earnest Manboy Suite in E Major is
that Francis and ILK each possess above-average skills, but they seem to
be content with just making sounds for the sake of making sounds.
There are moments on the disc that slip into some sense of cogency, but
they are quickly diffused for the sake of speed.
Whatever happened to making music for the sake of making music?
There are moments that just ring on and on and repeat and repeat, and
just when you think they are going to turn a corner – the typewriter
kicks in and you are left with your transmission lodged in the speed
bump you never saw coming.
Like any good concept album there are themes and reprises that the
musicians can revisit now and again. Theirs seem slightly pilfered from
an old Frank Zappa album. As a matter of fact, by the end of the disc
it's starting to sound like outtakes from an album Zappa's kid may have
made in an effort to please his genius father. Better luck next time,
Dweezil.
www.thejohnfrancis.com
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