We continue Mars Volta week with their sophomore effort, Frances the Mute. Now, when we last met TMV on De-Loused, we used the word energy to describe some of the power that they generated. On their debut, TMV were able to utilize this power and energy while maintaining the focus necessary to avoid turning their album into a crazy psychadelic wankfest. The album clocked in at a solid hour, most tracks averaged 5 to 7 minutes in length, and there wasn't really any part of the album that made you question why it was there. So restraint, then, too.
The thing you have to realize, however however (and this is part of the reason I think I've never really been able to gel with De-Loused), is this: when TMV show restraint, they are fucking boring. As boring as a band who does what they do can be. And that's just disappointing, because on De-Loused, TMV put all the genres I listed (psychadelic, latin, jazz, punk, post-hardcore, etc) into a blender and used that unique recipe to create an album that poked its head out of the box. With Frances, TMV step outside of the box completely. And it's genius. Fucking genius. But it also requires an extra effort on the part of the listener, because TMV are done holding your hand and walking you through their music. It's time to grow a pair and enter the real world.
The differences are obvious at first glance: unlike De-Loused, Frances technically contains only five tracks, 3 between 13-15 minutes and one, the closing track, over a half hour. The reason that the final track is broken up like it is, BTW, is b/c if TMV had released the album with five tracks, it would technically have been an EP, which would have netted them less money. But moving from the track listing into the tracks themselves, we have an interesting transformation. We have the same basic building blocks: the punky post-hardcore, jazz, latin sound with the progressive song structures and...erm...unique lyrics and vocals. With this album, however, we add in stretches of chaotic ambient noise, sections of songs that seemingly appear to be nothing but filler. Even The Widow, which (somehow) became a single and actually generated radio play (although edited), ends with several minutes of static leading into L'via L'viaquez.
So, to summarize, what does it all mean? Well, unlike their first album, TMV is not simply putting it all out there for you with no effort on your part. You have to actively listen to this album to appreciate it, to understand how those sections that seemingly accomplish no purpose actually make the album so special compared to what I see as the relatively dry and somewhat stale debut album. Frances has life. This is the moment where TMV start to take every commonly held notion about creating an album and writing music, throw it out the window, and do whatever the fuck they want to do. And this is a band talented enough that it's exciting to see them do it, and succeed so well doing it.
Still can't believe The Widow ever received radio airplay though
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