Arms of Kismet Cutting Room Rug CD

The follow-up to Arms of Kismet's 2004 release, Eponymous, finds much darker things emerging from Mark Doyon's pen. The theme here is put right on the table with opening track "Auriculara (Listen to Me)," reprised with two 30-second moments later on -- "Listen (To This)" and "Listen (To That)." Not recommended for bipolar people, there are more down moods painted then ups, making the earlier disc more inviting. "Clarendon" is an interesting episode on this close to 35-minute outing that travels through rockabilly and post-punk worlds like a journeyman possessed. The singer/songwriter stretches through these dark passages on Cutting Room Rug with his dry, witty observations. "Cracks" explains it in an airy moment, drums brushing against a collage of sounds that sets the stage for "Pinnacle of Same." "Pinnacle" hits a majestic tone aided by Beatles-influenced guitars -- mastering engineer Jon Astley (having worked with George Harrison) certainly knows how to keep them subtle and sweet. It's the opposite of "Coil," a tune that pulsates slowly, with sounds that pull the listener back into the cave. "Life Imitates" finds Doyon's collaborator from his earlier Wampeters ensemble, Kowtow Popof, returning to lend a hand on what could easily be dubbed "downer folk." Other guests join the montage on this intriguing but sometimes disturbing statement, which closes out with "Listen to You." The give and take slips everything back into the solitary mood, kind of like George Harrison's reworking of the slow version of "Isn't It a Pity" on All Things Must Pass, a counterpoint to its exhilarating doppelgänger, in this case "Auriculara (Listen to Me)," which started the whole thing off. ~ Joe Viglione

If Arms of Kismet's 2004 debut, Eponymous, was a heartfelt affirmation, the new Cutting Room Rug is its prankster twin, fusing parodic rants with tragic laments in a playful cocktail of satire and sincerity. From the mischievous "Clover" to the ominous "Coil," the new CD is a dark joyride, careening from track to track like a condemned man in a funhouse. Its inhabitants can only cry at weddings, can only laugh at funerals.Fans of postmodern popsters like Beck, The Flaming Lips, and The Postal Service will find a kindred spirit in Arms of Kismet. Cutting Room Rug forsakes pimpin' and rides for pointed salvos wrapped as sweet confections. Split into three "acts," it attacks with guitars, hooks, and dancebeats, wooing the listener with sugary, stuck-in-your-head melodies and fractured lyrics. The format recalls The Firesign Theatre and The Who Sell Out, veering between spiritual yearning and crass commercialism, compelling passers-by to forget their troubles and "spin the wheel." It sketches a perilous, chaotic world begging for a skip and a chuckle.Arms of Kismet blends disparate genres ("roots" music, '80s rock, hip-hop) in offbeat and revelatory ways. From the hooky "Outbound Train" to the folky "Life Imitates" to the house-soaked "Cracks," it paints a fast-changing landscape where one never knows what ripping good luck or bitter misfortune waits over the next hill. Brooding and poppy, funny and foreboding, it's toe-tapping, tragicomic rock 'n' roll.Cutting Room Rug was written and produced by Mark Doyon, mastered by Jon Astley (Tori Amos, George Harrison, Pete Townshend), and released by independent label Wampus Multimedia. Guests include Kowtow Popof ("Life Imitates") Janna Audey ("Coil"), Eamon Loftus ("Auriculara [Listen to Me]"), Scott Goodrick ("Clarendon"), and Paul Golder ("Auriculara [Listen to Me]").Doyon released CDs as Wampeters during the 1990s, and published a book of fiction, Bonneville Stories, in 2001. He thinks of Cutting Room Rug like a jigsaw puzzle. "Sometimes the puzzle falls off the table," he says. "You can put it back together, or you can do something else with the pieces."********"Witty, idiosyncratic indie-rock that is to a band like Maroon 5 what a film like Sideways is to one like Miss Congeniality 2.... Zealously off