If you’ve ever thought: wow I really like TV On The Radio, but I wish they sounded more like Faith No More, then today’s your lucky day.
Introducing: Nevemen, a group consisting of TV On The Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe, Mike Patton of Faith No More, and Adam “Doseone” Drucker of cLOUDDEAD.
Besides the awful production, sometimes sounding like a static-filled T.V. set from the 60’s that I just want to kick until it settles itself out because magic, there also apparently seems to be little to no concern for how they sound at all or if anyone can even understand anything they’re saying. “It’s shockingly easy to lose track of who’s singing at what moment,” boasts the Ipecac Records description of the record. But apparently, “that’s the point,” and the band loves the idea that, “the frontman digests its self.” I don’t know about you, but someone digesting themselves on a record sounds pretty damn disgusting to me.
There’s also these weird spoken word bits, a la Mike Patton’s Faith No More influence. It doesn’t sound like rap or even part of the song however, it mainly sounds like video game narration, like when computer players yell things at you as you’re playing, as if it should say “(feat. Snake from Metal Gear Solid).” It’s also corny enough sounding that I might believe you if you told me it was actually just The Lonely Island taking a new direction.
I also have no idea what the themes are or what they’re even talking about. Most of the tracks sound angry and playful at the same time, like “Mr. Mistake”, which could have been written for a dark episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. It’s as if they’re trying to combine the genres of the three groups there were a part of before Nevermen and not once during the recording sessions did they think, “oh god we all make very different music that does not fit well with each other at all. this was a bad idea.” I love Tunde, but this was a bad idea.