Octoberland is the fourth album by The Armoires the Burbank based collective who revolve around Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome who also helm Big Stir Records the bands label. The rest of the band are Larysa Bulbenko, Clifford Ulrich and John Borack with production and additional instrumentation by Michael Simmons with special guests Miranda Broome and Jared Jenkins.
The A-side opens with We Absolutely Mean It and they really do mean they love making super sophisticated chamber power pop, the string section are a delight, they truly mean they love playing music and making the best music they can, while running one of the nicest collective labels around in Big Stir Records, so jump on board and hear the bands message.
This Ones For The Swedes so get a large mug of Swedish Coffee and some fika and drink it all in, the hazy feelings from the guitars and strings with some Bo Hansson style synth wonderment, they raise a toast or three of Schnapps or Aquavit to all our Swedish friends hanging out in cat restaurants in Uppsala Tack.
Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse is like the plot for the next Alien film, this time they've gone steam punk, they have survived all the madness and are now fighting for a return to the normal scheme of things.
Ouroboros Blues (Crow Whisperer) has a rich tapestry of sound for the portends and harbingers discussed in this dark twisted tale, part re-working of old fairy tales, part re-imagining into a modern context, the violin weaves its way through the tale, to try to revive a sane and sensible civil discourse, attempting to fashion a better world than the one we currently inhabit.
Green Hellfire At The 7-11 is a dark disturbed song, infected by the October surprise and the feeling that the real virus is humanity, while this might have some nursery rhyme elements, the subject matter is far more serious, they try to dowse the flames and save the last remaining branch of 7-11 (most of the European ones have gone.)
Here Comes The Song to infect your brain, to make sure you want to play it and hear it repeatedly, swelling strings to gladden the heart, it won't be put down with cliches, this is a song for the ages, one that will always remain long after we've all gone and the harmonies have dissolved our spirits, floating in the atmosphere.
The B-Side opens with You Ought To Be Cut In Half that sounds a lot more upbeat than the title suggests, they look at people who are infected with spiritual gangrene creating a diseased society, who could they ever be singing about. The wondrous chamber pop backing is at total odds with the lyrical content, in ways that give the song greater impact, you're not expecting such ugly distain coming from within such a beautiful tune.
Sickening Thud of the type that no one hears, it happens deep in the forest, if you heard it you'll have to rush back to the town or city to tell everyone about just how tragic a thud it was.
Snake Island Thirteen has a slightly more reflective feel, with more prominent drums than on most of the album, this has them stranded on that mysterious island trying to survive without being consumed by the snakes.
It's A Good Time To Come Back Down From The Cold has a more folky edge musically, they urge us all to come back inside and join the party once more, end this cold war and work together to make Octoberland the paradise they are seeking.
The album closes with Music & Animals being the two drugs The Armoires crave the most, they bring happiness and well-being to them, they bicker over who sings the low or high harmonies on this pretty lush closing number for a sophisticated adult album still in love with mythic tales.
Find out more at https://orcd.co/armoires-octoberland https://bigstirrecords.com/the-armoires-octoberland-market?ffm=FFM_f5fa23a5df3ade8ac56922da872458c6 https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/octoberland https://www.facebook.com/thearmoires
