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Once when I was in college, I had the unfortunate experience of getting absolutely smashed by overdosing on cough syrup.  It created a feeling of being sick and blissfully unaware of my condition at the same time.  Listening to Eternifinity is the closest I have been to that feeling in fifteen years.  

 The Mattoid is the lead singer and “sango”guitarist of the eponymously titled group.  The man’s voice, based on the cover art, defies any expectation.  The album takes a minimalist approach, yet employs loops and some electronic gimmickry (the sound of a dial up internet connection is used in “Little Surfer”), over the Right Said Fred/Lou Reed/Crash Test Dummies vocal stylings of The Mattoid.  At other points, he switches to what he calls “throat,” which is comparable to the Cookie Monster/Klingon hardcore style, while the music remains a mixture of folk, lounge, and indie rock.  

 This disc is alternately confusing and amusing, thus the cough syrup analogy I alluded to earlier.  “Joy: and “Blow” are the most representative songs of the album, while “Tinkli Vinkli” sounds like Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) on acid.  Free form, creative, and tinged with weirdness, Eternifinity should appeal to fans of Beck, Danielson Famile, and lo-fi experimentalists.

Brian A. Smith
6 February 2005