Media Club #2

Review of the Album “Fly Briskly, Romanian Gerbil”

“Fly briskly, Romanian Gerbil” is the Sophomore effort from Swedish mime-pop bandlet, “Broodmusket.” Their first album, “Yell farm” featured heavily Broodmusket’s headmaster Chance Branson’s signature “shout-chirping” vocal style, but this album represents a marked departure from their roots.

A concept album, “Romanian Gerbil” tells the tale of a piece of driftwood named Gerbil as it navigates the harsh nothingness of post-industrial purgatory. Branson and his band-slaves challenge listeners to impose their own music on the album, as the first 18 of its 19 tracks each highlight a different genre of silence.

Track 5, entitled “Track 8,” was recorded backward, shattering all notions of what silence is capable of. This “reverse-silence,” as Branson calls it, is not only silent, but also reversed. Only in its reversal can the track’s silence truly not be heard for what it isn’t: played forwards.

Track 11, entitled “requel to a preimagining” asks listeners to assume that the titular driftwood is being sung about somewhere, when in fact all we hear is what this reviewer presumes to be an old lady dying. By emphasizing the soundlessness of death, Broodmusket indeed reaffirms its character’s life. This silence envelops the listener, compelling him to go do something else for a little while. This lasts for 87 minutes, at which point, there’s a drum.

The album’s final track breaks all expectations by being the Blondie song “Sunday Girl.” By choosing not to cover the song but simply insert it into the album as-recorded by Blondie, Broodmusket blurs the lines between CD with nothing on it, Mix Tape, and legitimate album. It is this innovative approach towards musicy-ness that elevates Broodmusket from simple musicians to artists. These artists masterfully envision a world without sound, and then a drum, and then a Blondie song, and this vision’s realization is simply chilling.

Broodmusket’s harpoonist, Helga Man-donkey, is noticeably absent from this Sophomore release. Branson explains that Man-donkey got stuck in traffic, but will surely be a part of the next recording. Let’s certainly hope so! This reviewer scores “Fly Briskly, Romanian Gerbil” a 9 out of 10, with a one-point deduction for inducing childbirth in certain dogs, including my own.

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Originally appeared on the comedy podcast People’s World Radio

Micah Gordon is the co-executive producer and head writer of thesketch comedy webseries Kill Bosby Presents: Watch Immediately. Visit his portfolio here.