It is with this in mind that Hamster Theatre – with their mixture of improvisation, jazz and folk – light the way as a good place to start for a genuine alternative to the norm. While citing influences from the above, Hamster Theatre also brings avant-garde mixes, world music and even influences from classical composers Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel. Yet to pin down any of the music as references or similarities to the above would be naïve as Hamster Theatre’s latest release, The Publick Execution of Mister Personality, really is its own creation.
Well over an hour long, Hamster Theatre’s latest is somewhat hard going to say the least, though if you prefer your morsel of improv in meaty chunks as opposed to healthy bite-sized bits then you’ll be in seventh heaven as at twenty six tracks you are literally bombarded with sound.
Impossible to dissect into individual songs (as truly it should be listened to from start to finish) The Publick Execution… manages to, at its core, use its folk like attributes to conjure a Parisian feel predominantly via the continued use of the accordion, one of the few audible motifs that is identifiable throughout the album. Despite this however, Hamster Theatre’s range in their latest album is as sporadic as one would imagine, with calm and cool moments stabbed by epileptic ticks of animated staccato noise; the instruments at times literally fighting for paramount position.
It has to be said that while there is a serious integrity toward jazz and its sub-genres it is easily parodied and mocked. Thus, what makes Hamster Theatre so genuine over some of the other groups practicing similar styles is that rather than shy away from the comical aspects of the genre, they have embraced this and at times even reference it in the music (the accordion sound and its French connections could perhaps be a deliberate homage as well as parody of cultured Paris’ love of jazz music). If nothing else the band’s name, Hamster Theatre, tells you they have a sense of humour (unless there’s a deeper meaning which I’m missing, though I doubt it).
If this sort of music isn’t your scene then stay away at all costs (I’ve seen people turn red with anger over their animosity towards Improv) however if you’re an avid fan or just someone with an open mind give Hamster Theatre’s The Publick Execution of Mister Personality a shot for, after all, its good to find a group such as this with its sense of humour firmly in place, a humour lacking in the genre as a whole.
