Out Now: Idiot Mambo – Shoot The Star (SM071)
Idiot Mambo started as a bedroom project from primary songwriters Benji Davis and Leah G. Their sophomore record, Shoot the Star, is a kaleidoscopic homage to their eclectic influences, from punky pop and thrift-store glam to country sparkle. Joined by Jared Brey, Dan Timlin, and Dan Angel whose drumming and engineering prowess laid the foundation for a newer, more polished sound. The band embraced experimentation, layering synthesizers, pedal steel, and even a pill bottle shaker to create a sound that’s both raw and meticulously crafted.
RIYL: Purr, Mac DeMarco, Belle and Sebastian, Alex G, Bonny Doon, Yo La Tengo
“Our first studio session features Dan Angel on drums and Jared on bass.” says Benji “We have one rehearsal prior. Dan learns the tunes, lays down amazing rhythms and engineers the session, living up to his reputation as the hardest working man in showbusiness.“
Lyrically, Shoot the Star is a wild ride through themes of insomnia, existential musings, and partying through the chaos. “The record has wreckless homages to all sorts of stuff.” says Benji. Several songs on the album were written in collaboration with spoken word poet Colbert Root who joins the band live as a theatrically effective orator. Tracks like “Tailchase” and “Deathdriver” explore failure and rebirth, while “Bop Til U Drop” and “Light Bulbs” deliver infectious, off-kilter energy. With its reckless charm and genre-defying spirit, Shoot the Star is a record for nowhere people. Idiot Mambo is here to remind you that rock and roll is alive, weird, and undeniably fun.
“Idiot Mambo have a dream where they exit the bedroom and enter the studio to make a catchy, cockeyed rock and roll record with their friends.
We get invited to play a show. Jared joins to play bass. Colbert joins in as a theatrically effective orator. We use a sample pad to trigger some beats, Benji & Leah sing and dance and we all have a great time.
Dan T offers to play drums and host us at his practice space, so he jumps in and we form a rock band.
We put aside the sample pad and go on to play a couple awesome shows. It’s time to capture this energy and put something to tape. The band rolls into Dan Angel’s place neighboring boner4ever. Dan A feels the vibe and cements the band as rhythm daddy-o.
Our first studio session features Dan A on drums and Jared on bass. We have one rehearsal prior. Dan A learns the tunes, lays down amazing rhythms and engineers the session, living up to his reputation as the hardest working man in showbusiness. We get vocals down and start mixing a track, but we aren’t finished. We need a second session.
Dan T performs drums on the next studio outing. We track a couple of numbers that we’ve been knocking around on as a band. The takes are good. Dan T then intrepidly lays down beats to some completely unrehearsed songs that Benji, Leah, and Colbert brought from home. The takes are good! We overdub bass, mess around with the Nashville guitar, do some singing. We need more time to finish this.
One more studio session to add pulsing percussion, get trippy, and make things really sparkle. We paste in some synthesizers and pedal steel from home recordings. We shake a pill bottle because it sounds better than the egg shaker. We rip a guitar solo. We tap the glockenspiel. We wrench the noisemakers. We finesse the tape delay. A couple more vocal embellishments. It all fits.
Dan A dolls up the record while intensely gazing at the album art, handcrafted by Leah. Cell phone propped on the console for the entire mixing and mastering process. Once the kitty cats begin to dance to the music, we’re certain the track is sufficiently tarted. Soon, all ten tracks make the cats dance, and we call it done.
The record has wreckless homages to all sorts of stuff. A pinch of punky pop, a dash of shitty Revolver. A love for early rock, a kind of thrift store glam schlock. Some country sparkle and some tripped-out r&b. It’s like a collection of theme songs about diddly.
A
Tailchase is about a failure to relinquish. Lockjaw is a strange cover of a rap song by French Montana and Kodak Black. Bop Til U Drop is an intriguing reimagining of a Ramones song. Braindead is about partying on. Lightbulbs posits civilization as a fad. Deathdriver is about transportation and samsara.
B
Pillowcase is a case of insomnia. R U Dumb is, in truth, pretty dumb, but then again, so are you. Hot Potato is both baked and fried. Dead Roses is where we wake up from our dream and realize that, hey, we’re a real rock band after all.
In like a sour gummy worm, out like a satisfying turd, Shoot the Star is a kinetic, yet languid foofaraw.
Shoot the Star is mostly uptempo rock music for nowhere people.
Shoot the Star is your new favorite record.” – Benji