Search - Amy Denio, Eugene Chadbourne, David Greenberger :: Feral Chickens

What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You, But Neither Can It Help

Brian Hogue | Providence, Rhode Island, United States | 02/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Feral Chickens is an amazing piece of artistry that ignores all convention yet sounds as though it is an indelible part of musical folklore. You would be hard pressed to find any album more creative in its use of rare and homemade instruments. The lyrics range from dark parables to light fables to traditional folk songs to 16th century poems. There's even a cover of the Rolling Stones "Mother's Little Helper" thrown in for good measure as well as an instrumental version of a Residents song! And the instrumental tracks are every bit as illustrative and imaginative as anything that precedes them, evidenced by their twelve minute opus, "A Collection of Warpeds" which sounds just as much like a classical piece as it does a score to a cartoon.It is truly a shame that Only a Mother has been laid waste by the very avante-gardeness that made them unforgettable. There is little or no information left to be had of them anywhere, and though I believe there were recordings other than Feral Chickens, everything is certainly out of print.If you appreciate truly unique and listenable music please familiarize yourself with Only a Mother."