Mr. Gnome: Madness in Miniature (El Marko, 10/25/11)
Mr. Gnome, the Cleveland-based rock two-piece consisting of vocalist/guitarist Nicole Barille and percussionist Sam Meister, has a lot of ideas. Its 2011 album, Madness in Miniature, tells an epic story that the band wanted to translate into some other form of media, be it graphic novel or film. They eventually scaled their ambitions back to a music video, which we previewed for you earlier this year.
Every Thursday, Pop Addict presents infectious tunes from contemporary musicians across indie rock, pop, folk, electronica, and more.
Mr. Gnome: Madness in Miniature (El Marko, 10/25/11)
Mr. Gnome: “Ate the Sun”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/mr.-Gnome-Ate-the-Sun.mp3|titles=Mr. Gnome: “Ate the Sun”]Formed in 2005, Cleveland-based duo Mr. Gnome has been offering introspective, spooky indie rock ever since its inception. Even though the art-rock band is composed of just singer/guitarist Nicole Barille and drummer/pianist Sam Meister, Mr. Gnome finds a way to make a lot of noise. And thankfully for us, it’s noise worth hearing.
Though two-pieces are fairly common these days, Mr. Gnome has managed to stand out with the best of them. The band’s latest effort, Madness in Miniature, finds Barille and Meister confident, collected, and ready for the limelight, armed with a catalog of varied instrumentation and musical styles.
The album flexes its muscles frequently. Oscillating between raucously distorted guitars, atmospheric soundscapes, persistent drumming, and Barille’s full-on belt-outs and soft-spoken vocal layers, the body of work immediately calls to mind the best stuff by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Kills, with hints of Queens of the Stone Age peppered throughout. And just a few tracks in, it becomes apparent: this is fright rock at its finest.