1700 Monkey Ninjas – You ARE The Storm

1700 Monkey Ninjas – You ARE The Storm – Album Review

Perfect day to discuss this album You ARE The Storm by 1700 Monkey Ninjas; and as the name certainly suggests, you can expect the unexpected all throughout this album. What begins with the massive sounds of “Skavenjurr” are merely just the beginning to this short and incredibly sweet electro album. I say sweet yes; but those opening tones are so ominous you’d think you missed the annual call of ‘The Purge’ and forgot to lock your front door…

The atmosphere changes swiftly…a reoccurring event in these nine short and explosively inventive tracks. “Aksydent Prohn,” is an insane mix of sound; an entire wall of electro-infused madness is pouring into your ears by the end of this track as if they had dared 1700 Monkey Ninjas to fill them to the brim. It’s highly experimental cut, but if you’re into Venetian Snares and music for the A.D.D. like I am, well…well then it’s fuckin’ great!

“Brayk Throo” shows some real intensity and precision in this club-beat gone awry. With excellent samples throughout the low-end heavy beat…it reminds me of similar sounds and tones of 1200 Micrograms…which is a little strange given that both of these two acts carry 4-digit numbers at the beginning of their names. In any event…if you want some music to make your brain jump all over the place, try that track and the following cut “Smert Alyeck” to make those synapses dance.

Wanna know what makes my brain do the jig? A track like “Amarrikuh (Flaccid Penises & Assault Rifles).” This pointed electro-cut-and-sample-fest is every bit of proof that these electro-artists can still have and effectively express opinions. With compelling social commentary looped into this track in a very subtle but massively effective comparison…you can’t help but notice that this track has a little extra to say. It’s kind of strange when it’s actually reality that comes into to break up the chaotic nature of these sounds, rather than vice-versa.

The songs towards the last half build on themselves a little more than the previous songs as 1700 Monkey Ninjas ramp up towards the finale, now crushing the entire electro universe into slightly longer songs and expanded ideas. “Skware Pegg, Cyrkal Hohl” sounds like the ticking time bomb of electro-fury that it truly becomes; starting off slowly with a simple ticking…this track eventually detonates into a full-scale attack. Towards the end, “Ynkunspyk Yu Uhs,” also demonstrates this same ability to blow-up into extraordinary, giant sounds. This second to last track finds its way back to a mellower groove by the end as it completely breaks down to set up the final track, “Egsawshton Puhrayd.”

And with that being the final track…I’m just gonna say it…I’ve tried not to, but I can’t take it anymore. I can get past the fact that every one of these track-titles came out of the rejected-Aphex-Twin song-names jar…I’m okay with that; what I’m not okay with, after all these crazy nonsensical titles is the sheer amount of looking them over to see if I’ve spelt them correctly…

…back to the music…ummmm…

What I meant to say, was that this final track, “Egsawshton Puhrayd” definitely became the ending this crazy experimental album deserved. Hitting you with the high frequencies in a track that sounds like the nightmare an answering machine might have…the changes between these parts make this a fascinating track to end it all on…and right when you think it’s over, 1700 Monkey Ninjas come flying back in one more time to kick your ears and ass before it’s all over as quickly as it began.

Whoa! What a head rush of an album! I had that sucker up LOUD!

If you prefer sounds over silence, dare yourself even further and take a trip with 1700 Monkey Ninjas!

The album You ARE The Storm is now available online – here’s a link to the ol’ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-are-the-storm/id956886534

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