Inaugural track “1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound” begins as expected: Efrim Menuck’s guitars gently plod, while cello and violins bob and weave like pugilists. The song lurches into a vortex of roiling electric guitars, forceful skin hammering (courtesy of new drummer Eric Craven, formerly of Montreal post-rockers Hangedup), and sweeping strings before simmering into choral chants. The album’s swan song, “BlindBlindBlind,” boasts a swirling interplay between seething and swelling, beautiful and bombast. The staggering, paeanlike “Black Waters Blowed/Engine Broke Blues” is a call to arms that discards all emotional restraints, asserting that 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons is not content to preach to the Silver Mt. Zion choir. It wants converts.
– Frank Parisi
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band: www.tra-la-la-band.com
Constellation Records: www.cstrecords.com