Country : United States Label : Avant Night Genres and styles : Avant-Garde / Experimental / Prog Rock / Rock Year : 2024

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – Of The Last Human Being (Top Albums 2024)

· by Laurent Bellemare

It’s not written down anywhere, but among the sub-genres of rock there’s something I like to call “Odd Rock,” oblique, avant-garde music, still guitar- and drum-driven, but which defies the rules of the game and expands the boundaries of the genre. Bands like The Residents, The Cardiacs, Primus or anything influenced by Zappa might fall into this category.

Among the lesser-known, there was also the excellent Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, dead and buried since 2011. At least, that’s what we thought, because nobody expected this band to re-emerge 13 years later with a fourth album, but here we are!
From the outset, the band’s ambition does not disappoint. Like their previous albums, the affair lasts over an hour and a quarter, and traverses a most cinematic musical arc. The pieces, highly progressive and with few repetitions, are developed and always moving forward. This does not prevent the album from abounding in catchy, gripping moments. The instrumentation is equally extensive, the album incorporating brass and strings. The more ambient moments also feature bells and all manner of background voices that contribute to the album’s multiple layers. The whole thing is pretty dark, too, which fully justifies the dissonance and almost metal moments, as on opener ‘Salamander in Two Worlds’.
The vocals, as always, take center stage on this album. The lead singer’s voice navigates easily through anguish, sweetness, aggression and madness. These varied evocations, however, are constantly underpinned by an eccentricity unique to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Other layers are often superimposed, such as the many vocal harmonies that run through the album. In contrast, a female voice reminiscent of Icelandic singer Björk dominates ‘Silverfish’ and ‘Hush, Hush’, opening up a whole new tableau. On ‘We Must Know More’, it’s more of a cabaret atmosphere that sets in, with a waltzing rhythm punctuated by the sousaphone. The album moves through various textures, often articulated by chromatic melodies and highly technical drum sections. The whole is reminiscent of a musical rendering of the steampunk aesthetic so dear to cinema, not unlike the late Quebec band Jardin Mécanique.
All in all, of the Last Human Being is a larger-than-life proposition from a band that was already into complex and unusual music. The power and hooks of rock are there, but in the service of a crazy creativity drifting towards a nightmarish darkness. The dark side of progressive music, so to speak! An unexpected album, but one that reaffirms the band’s relevance in the modern experimental rock ecosystem.

Publicité panam

Latest 360 Content

Vitta Morales, Our Versatile Colleague

Vitta Morales, Our Versatile Colleague

Late-Night Warehouse Ambiance for Juan Atkins All-Nighter at the SAT

Late-Night Warehouse Ambiance for Juan Atkins All-Nighter at the SAT

Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn

Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

Nicholas Daniel – Complete Works for Oboe by Madeleine Dring

Nicholas Daniel – Complete Works for Oboe by Madeleine Dring

Christine Tassan; Marie-Véronique Bourque – Bruissement boréal

Christine Tassan; Marie-Véronique Bourque – Bruissement boréal

Lanaudière Festival | Metropolitan Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Marc-André Hamelin: When Nature Drives the Concert

Lanaudière Festival | Metropolitan Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Marc-André Hamelin: When Nature Drives the Concert

Festival de Lanaudière | Sol Gabetta : Queen of the cello meets les Violons du Roy

Festival de Lanaudière | Sol Gabetta : Queen of the cello meets les Violons du Roy

The “rodas de samba” That Never End

The “rodas de samba” That Never End

Friday night at the Dômesicle – All night long with Jump Source

Friday night at the Dômesicle – All night long with Jump Source

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Montreal Vocal Arts Festival | The Magic Flute to conclude ICAV’s opera month

Montreal Vocal Arts Festival | The Magic Flute to conclude ICAV’s opera month

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Subscribe to our newsletter