On their bandcamp page, Serial Mouse claims to transcend genre. Still, I’m going to try to categorize them. From northern Indiana, Serial Mouse plays occasionally extreme progressive rock, likely recorded in a garage (onto a digital 8 track), to be blasted over the deafening engine of your antique hesher van. You and the gang might pull over and cash a steel reserve. By the time you remember to turn the stereo down, you're already blasting off toward the deepest dimensions of bumfuck.
The scenery is bleak but still you must race forward. To where? Who gives a RAT’s ASS?
I met Serial Mouse’s drummer/lead vocalist/auto harpist/sampler/visual artist back in December 2017 when Atkinson played drums in a metal fusion band (think rototoms and fretless bass) called Angel Grave. Their show made me want to buy my own conversion van and pair of paisley slacks.
Serial Mouse seems to have formed at Angel Grave’s funeral. Actually, it’s a little more up my alley than the old band. At times I'm reminded of King Crimson, if they'd only been raised in the early 90s. My favorite track is Nest Decaying, mostly because of its pronounced bass line. My 2nd favorite is probably Emerald Visions of an Unborn Czar. The last two tracks give us more of a definite black metal vibe, which I especially appreciate when mixed with the rest of their sound. I was surprised, since the northern darkness hadn't showed its face much in the earlier tracks. Perhaps if that had been so, I'd have obeyed the temptation to pause and work on my drum chops for a bit. These guys get fast.
I love homemade albums. They are the only pieces of music I want to review here in the zone. I love how every amateur recording engineer has their own host of interesting quirks, giving a rare shine to every release. Love it. Still, we are forced to take the good quirks with those less desirable. On this release I love the close-up, uncompressed sound of the drums. I can articulate most of the guitar work but, I get that reverb is often used, the amps themselves sound too far away for me. It does, however, add to the played in a garage vibe. The amp sound doesn’t bother me as much as the lack of bass guitar. The few times I can hear a bass, it is too far off for me to discern.
Even if you don’t buy the digital album, I recommend DEFINITELY checking it out. To me, Songs of the Steer’n Wheel Gripper is nothing short of sick. I give it an A+.
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