The brutal dance of a boxer is sprinkled with check-punches; half-shots and light jabs that unbalance the opponent before the pounding ensues. Similarly, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band’s
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons checks the listener with 12 tracks of eerie squeals, unsettling feedback and white noise before easing into “1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound,” a molten- lava ooze preceding an eruption of symphonic fire.
Grown from the embers of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band (or A Silver Mt. Zion, as they are casually known), have bucked conformity since emerging in 1999. Driving complexity and experimentation is at the heart of 1
3 Blues for Thirteen Moons, making the core of the album – four tracks that clock in at over 13 minutes each – a boisterous, often dire, voyage through layers of sound. Jigsaw guitars and shearing violin and viola underscore singer/songwriter and band founder Efrim Menuck’s slightly-left vocals throughout “13 Blues for Thirteen Moons”, the chorus chant of “I just want some action” dissolving into a sultry guitar melody, a wave of calm before yet another thunderstorm sonic fury.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band are a true threat, a clever opponent that can certainly dance like a butterfly. However, it’s the sting of
13 Blues for 13 Moons that burns long after the bout-ending ring of the bell.
