Review of The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons

By Mike Wood

Seriously, it would be compliment to call the new missive from Thee Silver Mt. Zion & Tra-La-La Band) the soundtrack to nice sunny afternoon in the day room at a mental hospital. Really; with environmental sounds that sound alternately like they were taped out a window or in a boiler room, and the creepy but oddly comforting vocals, "13 Blues for Thirteen Moons" could easily be the antidote to despair. Or the trigger. With two violins, two guitars, cello and contrabass (plus drums) there is a lot of ammo to deliver emotional and harrowing noise, as on "1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound" or "Black Waters Blowed." Yet equally creepy are the muted, lo-fi interludes and long preamble, which in their way are more unhinged that the louder freaky-deaky. Guitarist/vocalist Efrim, as on most releases, makes you wonder and worry about him. He is not alone in chilling the spine, though, as he gets vocal harmony help that blend often to sound like a unified burst of deranged testifyin'. But "13 Blues" is another inner-exploration gone bad and bursting into public view. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra never fail to take chances, and on this release, even when they are sloppy they sound majestic, desperate and dirty, like the view from the nuthouse.