Slim Twig — Contempt!

If you're looking for an album that will not only piss off your parents, but also your less-musically tolerant friends, just slap this specimen of atonality on your stereo and watch almost everyone yell either: "Who or what the fuck is that you're playing?!" or "You call that music?!" Indeed, Contempt! — the solo full-length debut from Toronto's Slim Twig — is a test in patience and sanity for many.

Between the sound collages featured on "Mansion Haunting" and the sorted urban trash tales of "Young Hussies," Slim explores a different side of the urban mystique.

Lyrically, the album relates some disturbing imagery of brutality, rape and murder, all supported by industrial-tinged instrumentation, noises, sound collages and sinister organ melodies that seem to come straight out of '50s horror soundtracks.

The samples are unique and at times obtuse in both their arrangement and content. On "Gate Hearing! (Redux)," a straightforward guitar lick and simple '80s-era drum beat are augmented by a series of dissonant sound collages all supporting Twig's haunting, dense vocals.

There are some memorable moments along the way, like the opening of "Mansion Haunting," which captures the atmosphere referenced in the song's title. The monotony of Twig's vocal delivery with his tendency to repeat lyrical passages on "Estate Intrusion" adds to the cacophony and claustrophobic atmosphere of the composition. The album's one instrumental, "Sybarites Etc." rolls out and is driven by a frantic keyboard melody that hits the listener like ocean waves crashing the shore, followed by the inevitable heavy undertow of their withdrawal.

Slim Twig juggles lyrical Nick Cave influence ("Japanese Machines") with the musical texture of the Stan Ridgway-period of Wall Of Voodoo. Although those influences are wonderful, closer inspection reveals some flaws.

Twig tends to rely on boyish sexual references to build up his tales of urban desperation, especially through songs like "Patty Ann" ("when you sport my favourite fetching mini skirt"). It's hard to take what Twig dishes out with lyrics like, "Don't want to be the man that broke her/Just want to be an elegant smoker" on "Gate Hearing (Redux)."

Things sink to a low with the annoying "Phantasm Inquest," which features a pulsating, repetitive guitar riff probably created by playing the electric guitar above the bridge. This two-note riff could be played to clear out any unwanted crowd of teenagers at a mall or liquored up patrons who won't vacate their favourite pub after last call.

Twig's vision only becomes clear on "Tenement Watching." Things start to make sense with this song.

The sonic experience throughout Contempt! underlines the struggle of the human spirit against overwhelming external influences. It's Twig's intention to find the small beauty within the ugliness of today's modern society. The question remains whether this specific journey is worth the struggle. The album is definitely not for those who are weak of spirit or narrow-minded.

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