Review Summary: An enjoyable experience plagued by gimmicks and a hint of mediocrity.
Iwrestledabearonce's first studio album presents a rather unique listen to those willing to accept their brand of humor. With songs such as "Tastes like Kevin Bacon" containing a Dukes of Hazzard car horn, a harp, and a period in the song that could have been inspired from an 80's glam metal song. Moments such as these truly define the record, and create some memorable moments within the album. However, there are a few things in the album that bring down its overall quality. With that said, lets dive into this.
The first thing you will notice from this album is Krysta Cameron's vocal ability, and for the most part it is average. She utilizes singing, screaming, and growling, however, she seems to be best at singing, because her screaming and growling techniques appear to be rather off. However, she does scream and sing in the appropriate places to do such, which is a plus.
Perhaps one of the best aspects of this album would be the instrumentals. Guitarists Steven Bradly and John Ganey do an excellent job of flowing from one genre to the next while representing them in a correct fashion. Examples would include "You Ain't No Family", where in the song, it transitions from grindcore to country, and "See You In Shell", where it does the same with jazz. One of the downsides to the instrumentals would be the breakdowns, which are commonly found throughout the album.
You are probably asking yourself as this point "What prevents this album from a score higher than three?". It's not the humor, but it's the overall gimmickiness of the humor. While this album definitely has some memorable moments, it lacks in having no more than a handful. The album would've also benefited from a hint of cohesiveness as well.
On an overall scale, this album certainly has it's fare share of moments and great instrumentals,however, it has a few problems that brings down an otherwise great album and band. Problems that are still prevalent on their other releases. However, despite the problems encountered, this album was still enjoyable and could be recommended to anyone with a silly sense of humor.
