Search - Sprung Monkey :: Mr Funny Face

Some weak moments, but wow...

Andrew Peterson | Waltham, MA, United States | 11/17/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard "Get 'Em Outta Here" on the warped tour sampler a few years back, and it ended up being one of the mp3's my freand sean kept on his playlist up in his room, so whenever we were chilling up there and having a few brews getting ready to go out and raise some hell, that song would always come on. I've alwyas had good associatains for that tune because of this, so when i stumbled upon it in a CD store a year or so ago for a pretty cheap price, i picked it up. Basically, the rest of the CD sounds nothing like GEOH, but still rocks. Well, that's not entirely true- the beggining 2/3 rock, and then after "naked" things get a little weak, until you hit "He Aloha Mele" which is so weird it's cool. However, the beginning of this CD is so strong that it makes up for this. The first track is such a cool hip-hop/punk fusion, and the prechorus is just awesome. the next two tracks are REALLY heavy and still quite good. Then you hit Super Breakdown which is sorta poppy in a metal-ish sort of way- huge singalong chorus with chrushing guitars and all the works. Hard Times is probably the heaviest tune on the disc, and is just killer. the title track is awesome- sort of a tranced out hip-hop feel to it. Jo-Jo has one of the coolest chorus lyrics i've heard anywhere ("and i can feel your hands caressing me, so breathes a killer, so breathes a lover, now...), and tired is also a great tune, sort of a heavier version of the ambient feel of the title track. Then comes naked, which i think is probably the best song of the disc- the ultimate post-breakup song, and also sports some really good lines. It's true that a few of the songs here border on being trite, but when these guys are lyrically on, they're amazing, and it almost reads like modernist poetry- that chorus from JoJo could have come from the pen of charles bauldelaire. Like i said, the rest of this disc is basically filler, but the first half hour is so intense that even then it's one of my favorite CD's, and besides, there's no reason you can't just hit "stop" after naked. Also, a lot of it is pretty subtle, but the production here is superb- it's one of these discs that (especially with headphones) you pick up on something new every time you relisten to it. Maybe a rhythm guitar part younever noticed before, or a subtle panning in the hi-hats or somethingp- there's lots of cool stuff going on under the surface here.it's too bad they didn't end after Naked, with maybe He Aloha Mele tacked on at the end- Sprung Monkey would have had a short, concise, and powerful CD on their hands. It's an incredibly diverse yet cohesive sounding disc as it is, and has become a personal favorite of mine."

An Unexpected Favorite!

Z. A. Valentine | New York | 10/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I bought this album, I thought all the songs were going to be like "Get 'Em Outta Here." But this album actually has songs that are so much better! Don't get me wrong, I love that song, but my absolute favorite is "In Spite of it All," a song that I have played probably a thousand times. It's the music itself, combined with the lyrics that makes this such a mind numbingly outstanding album! I didn't even know they had put out another one until I saw Swirl available! I couldn't believe that after "Get "Em Outta Here" Sprung Monkey didn't release another song! Every song on this CD is unbelievable, and has turned into one of my alltime favorites. They are incredibly talented, and this is definitely a CD to blast at home or in the car! I hardly give five stars for a CD, simply because most of the time the CD has too many songs I skip over, but this one has made the cut. Get it if you do not have it!"

Where's the Sprung I grew to love?

Z. A. Valentine | 08/24/1998

(3 out of 5 stars)

"OK, so I feel really bad about giving anything Sprung 3 stars, considering that these guys seriously rule, but Mr. Funny Face really was a disappointment. Sure, it's dumb to expect a second album to be an extension of the first, but Sprung really changed styles -- for the worse. Some are still Swirl-esque, such as Greta, JoJo, and Hard Times, which are my favorite tracks, along w/ Atta Girl, which is just fun, and kinda in the spirit of Swirl's bonus track "Good Times," kind of a refresher after a slightly dark and grungy album. Other tracks, however, like Super Breakdown and the title track, Mr. Funny Face, are silly and contrived, and don't quite work. True, they have good tunes, but the lyrics.....ugh. If you're looking for a groovy, fantastic, rich, tasty grunge/rock/simply awesome album, buy Swirl. If you want a kinda-alternative/pretty catchy/slightly lackluster album, go for Mr. Funny Face. Definitely not for the same audience as Swirl addicts. Don't get me wrong -- this is not a "bad" album, just not as awesome as Sprung could be."