East River Pipe

Take the outlandish theatrics away from the Flaming Lips and you get the bare-boned, lo-fi twisted pop hymns of East River Pipe. The man behind the New Jersey namesake is none other than F.M. Cornog, whose spacey voice clearly provokes the question holding the title of his latest release – What Are You On?

Cornog isn’t afraid to lament on what seems to be his favorite topic...drugs. As he starts in “Druglife” – “hey, where’s my pills?”, the release spurs with tales of Paxil, Zoloft and Xanax to dimebags and crystal. In fact, “Crystal Queen” might be the happiest song about a down and outer since a tune called “She Don’t Use Jelly.” But despite the sour topics, What Are You On is musically upbeat, as we learn about an isolated artist searching for comfort amongst chemical dependencies in an alienated world. Take the downer lush sound-scape of “Life is a landfill” and you’re bound to feel sorry for Cornog. However take the sing-along anthem “The Ultrabright Bitch” and you can turn the page and smirk with glee. This do-it yourselfer shouldn’t be taken too seriously and like a Ween release, its all good because we know the artist is on something.