HAPPY WRETCHED FAMILY: Superb, simply superb, but also
disorienting and disquieting: that's Happy Wretched Family, Non Credo's
second album, seven years after Reluctant Hosts. The avant-pop format
found on the first LP has evolved into twisted shards of pop intermingled
with improvisation and experimentation.
The voice of Kira Vollman remains the center of attention. The first track,
"Sporco Mutande," is sung a cappella and illustrates her very
wide operatic range. Her vocal palette lies somewhere between Fatima Miranda
and Diamanda Galas. Arrangements are polyphonic and complex, and include
keyboards, drums, percussion, clarinet, cello, and tapes. Vollman and
partner Joseph Berardi handle all instruments, with Bernard Sauser-Hall
playing extra keyboards on three tracks. Every piece is a little gem that
has been polished for three years. The numerous overdubs give the impression
of being in the presence of a ten-piece ensemble -- there is a lot happening.
They reach peaks on "Curious Couplings" (haunting melody), the
strange half-awake dream "Piano Urine," and "Miliza Three
Flights Down" (with improvised nonsense vocals where Vollman turns
into a female version of Phil Minton). Compared to Reluctant Hosts, Happy
Wretched Family is the work of fully matured artists of exquisite originality.
As deranged and avant-gardist as these songs are, given the chance, they
will leave their mark in the listener's mind – if your voice is
flexible enough, you might even sing them in the shower.
~ François Couture, All Music Guide |