SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM - OF NATURAL HISTORY published February 2006, Zero Magazine

Editor's Note: This review was a pick of the month so it was enlarged and boxed in print. Pretty cool, huh?

"Here we go" is what you may think when you set eyes upon this album with its entomology charts and endless history text. You're a busy person and a concept album doesn't quite fit into your life that already has its share of concepts. And what the hell do you know about insects in the first place?

Relax. Of Natural History is enjoyable without annotation. You can get to the futurists vs. the Unabomber later. If you painted the picture of an SGM fan, they would be thick-skinned, satisfied with difficulty, affectionate of the insane. In other words, they love Bungle, Black Heart Procession, anything sweetly off-kilter, borderline silly, and for the love of god, different.

A common complaint about avant-garde music (at least that I have) is that it seems afraid to rock. It has a fear of being too melodic or too heavy and structured. But some of these songs are slightly metal. And the fact that Carla Kihlstedt sounds like an American Bjork is a plus, too. This band can probably do anything. If someone told me tomorrow that they could fly, I might believe that as well. Save yourself and get this album.