Review – Clementine – Crooked Brain

By Brandon Henry

When I got Crooked Brain from Clementine, I didn’t know what to expect. What I got is a badass album from a Minneapolis foursome that deserves to be “discovered” and would garner opener invites from Queens of the Stone Age or Foo Fighters if the record fell into the right hands. Crooked Brain will blow your hair back with its sly grooves and smoldering guitar riffs that float over vivid lyrics and thunderous drums.

From start to finish Crooked Brain had me hooked. The songs are meticulously arranged with layered guitars and catchy melodies that push and pull you through the entire listening experience. The ten songs beautifully build their dynamics before dropping back down to bass and drum grooves that erupt in orchestrated chaotic noise that rips from riff to riff.

You’ll hear this dynamic diversity in songs like “Blood Diamond” and “Float,” both with Grohl-esque guitar leads, rumbling drums and drifting choruses. At times Clementine creates carefully orchestrated chaos in a way that Radiohead and Wilco have mastered, as they artfully connect the parts of the songs with deep grooves and thick guitars in songs such as “Float, “In Praise” and “Strong Arm.”

The cool thing about this record is the constant groove laid down by the rhythm section that moves between the guitars. You’ll hear that in “Mother’s Song” and “Ate a Porcupine,” one of the trippiest songs on the record with a slinky guitar riff that slides through the whole tune and a chorus that opens up into its hooky refrain.

What makes Crooked Brain a rare treat is the space that Clementine leaves in their songs so the music can unravel itself. In songs like “Elephant and the Arctic Tern” and “In Praise” there’s ebb and flow between waves of sound and mid-tempo groove, allowing the listener’s can mind run in the sonic landscape that Clementine has created.

There’s an appealing darkness and mysteriousness that runs throughout Crooked Brain, but Clementine masterfully sneak in the light with memorable choruses that are inspiring and singable. The final track “The Sun Still Rises” is a sunny surf-rock song with the simple refrain that “the sun still rises on the darkest of days” as the guitar soars higher and higher before the final rock ‘n’ roll fade out with Beach Boys harmonies taking us to the end.

Clementine’s Crooked Brain is a masterwork debut from a group that stands out among Twin Cities’ bands, and is easily one of the best rock albums to come out of the Twin Cities this year.

Website: http://www.clementinempls.com

CD Release Show: http://riftmagazine.com/event/clementine-crooked-brain-record-release/