Who knew a three song-EP could be so satiated in genres? Moving from moment to moment through influence to influence, listening to Mother Brother’s EP Purdy was like watching a smooth-jazz caterpillar groove and shimmy his way into a funky cocoon, only to be hatched as a drifting psychedelic butterfly dripping with color.
By the time I was listening to the third and final track, Strange Girl, I was wondering what happened to the experimental jazz fusion I heard on the first track, Hate Song. Showcasing the soft voice of Amanda Bloom, Mother Brother weaves in and out with eclectic drum lines reminiscent of those of Flying Lotus over a stripped-down sample of a shaky jazz synth. Spanning only a minute and forty-five seconds, the song acts as a short-lived calm before the storm, instrumentally and lyrically. Hate Song spills over into the middle track Rainbow Ride; a mix of funk, jazz, and rock. The track is a structured bowl of sound containing glockenspiels, vinyl scratches, beat boxing, and French horns. The song rocks like a smoother hybrid of RHCP and Gorillaz. The verses come in with a monotonous yet fun faux-rap with lines that seem like they were taken from the likes of Anthony Keidis himself such as: “Well, everything’s normal when you’re talking to the toads/And the continents are pushing toward the carrot on their nose/While the basket case eyeballs are going through their books.”
Finally, we move into the third phase of Mother Brother, the beautiful butterfly that has come to be: Strange Girl. A combination of modern-psychedelic rock makes me feel like I’m listening to MGMT, yet the catchy ambient chorus and the fluidity of the vocals give off the sound of Radiohead-brand experimental rock. It’s a perfect end to the 12-minute trip that Purdy will take you on. Only time will tell what is next to come and what style it might be.
–Mike Giordano
Editor’s note: This article incorrectly identified vocalist Amanda Bloom. Bloom, a resident of Danbury, CT runs the publication The Mercurial, in addition to singing in Mother Brother.