Curious Mystery, The / Rotting Slowly
Album: Rotting Slowly   Collection:General
Artist:Curious Mystery, The   Added:May 2009
Label:Krecs  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2009-09-20 Pull Date: 2009-11-22
Week Ending: Nov 8 Oct 18 Oct 11 Oct 4 Sep 27
Airplays: 1 2 2 1 5

Recent Airplay
1. Jun 25, 2016: Music Casserole
Teeth Of All Types
4. Oct 14, 2009: Lost Verses
It's Tough
2. Jan 01, 2010: Music Casserole
Teeth Of All Types
5. Oct 14, 2009: Brownian Motion
Wrong Way
3. Nov 04, 2009: Lost Verses
Teeth Of All Types
6. Oct 09, 2009: The Lost Boys Impromptu Soundtrack
Black Sand

Album Review
Adam Pearson
Reviewed 2009-09-11
Dark, slow, druggy 60s psychedelic throwback rock. Some blues, garage, folk, and country influence too, but this mainly sounds like the song in a movie with a stereotypical flashback to a scene in the 60s with implied (or overt) drug use. Male and female (she sounds like Amber Webber) vocals trade off over texture-rich, tense dirges of varying structures. Dirty, aimless, murky retro stuff, but at the same time, forward thinking: invested in establishing coherent moods and finding unique, suitable song structures. Tracks tend to be around five minutes, which allows the music to breathe. I like the way the percussion sounds on this record; it really captures a live dynamic. This is the debut album for this Washington four-piece on K Records. Rotting Slowly is a well-constructed release and can fit in on most rock shows. Take a chance on one of these. No FCCs.

1. Slow groove, bluesy, dreamy female vocals, little guitar licks vary up the druggy electric riff. (5:41)
*2. A little more upbeat, snare drum is urgent, driving rock, easy to like. (4:27)
3. Instrumental. Slower ringing guitars, dynamic changes in tempo and shifts in structure, autoharp?, some fuzz and distortion in there, too. Fades into 4. (5:15)
*4. Bobbing groove, male lead vocals, female backing vocals, some wandering bridge and then launches back into great, moody verse. Autoharp, bells, guitars drift off to end the song. (4:16)
5. Female vocals, a little bit of twang and kind of a poppy refrain. (4:11)
*6. Stuttering snare opens and unpredictably veers into a more aggressive section with male vocals, which goes into a weird bridge, which sounds a bit Eastern and features a guitar solo. (5:12)
*7. Instrumental. Druggy, Eastern drone is established with warped horns and tasteful guitar. The real star here is the subtle percussion. Discernible rhythm comes in about halfway through, speeds up, and stays interesting. (5:18)
8. A little more upbeat but still dark and dreary, male vocals, guitar arpeggiate and ring, chorus is probably the catchiest moment on here with dancy hi-hat and almost an out-of-place pop-riff. (3:14)
9. Guitar is a little bit alt-country, rhythm is a drunken 4/4, slows to moody, bluesy section with organ and soaring, pained female vocals, speeds back up for outro. (4:23)
*10. Slow-mo doo wop about disease, female vocals, bridge features a twisted “Morricone porch chant.” (7:01)
11. Tasteful guitar leads another unpredictably structured, muddy track with lead male and backing female vocals. (5:04)
12. Slow, moody, dirty textures, guitars slowly chime along to the tipsy, sluggish rhythm with soothing female vocals up front. (6:43)


Track Listing
1. Preparations   6. Gone In Time
2. Black Sand   7. Nicaragua
3. Dragon's Crotch   8. Strong Swimmers
4. Teeth Of All Types   9. It's Tough
5. Go Forth And Gather   10. Wrong Way
  11. The Community Bed