Band: Merlin | Album: Grind House | Genre: Psychedelic rock, Synthwave, Film score (I guess?) | Year: 2023
From: Kansas City, (MO,) USA | Label: Independent
For fans of: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like Merlin. I’ve covered them a couple times before. The Mortal is a pretty solid stoner metal release with healthy doses of prog and psych, and “Merlin’s Bizarre Adventure” is a mind-bending cavalcade of incongruous musical ideas that somehow gel. I’m also pretty fond of their albums The Wizard and Christ Killer. (The latter is based on Nick Cave’s bonkers idea for a sequel to the film Gladiator; read about it!) In addition to putting out good music, they’ve got one of the best social media presences I’ve run across. Their Facebook page consists of scores of strange, self-deprecating memes that always amuse. (One such meme, posted probably a year ago or so, said something to the effect of of, “Yeah, we’re into NFTs: Not Fucking Touring.” Though Merlin might not tour, I apparently missed an opportunity to see them live early in their career. I lived in Lawrence, KS, from late 2012 until late 2014, and they posted some photos from a show in 2014 they had at The Bottleneck, a live music venue in Lawrence. I went to a good number of live shows while I lived out there, so I am bummed I never happened to see them.)
Moving on to the substance of Grind House, their sixth LP, it’s tough to figure out where to start. Historically, they’ve been a stoner doom band with some artsy leanings. But back in 2020 or 2021, they put out this strange, jazzy single, “Master Thief ‘77”, which presaged the aggressive move away from the stoner doom they championed on “Merlin’s Bizarre Adventure”. In a Facebook exchange I had with the band’s vocalist, Jordan Knorr, he explained Merlin’s next album was going to be based around the theme music to a series of fictional films and that it would be completely different from the band’s prior output. And true to his word, this is a bizarre, unexpected, and very fun release.
The album opens with the groovy, psychedelic instrumental “Feature Presentation”. Electric piano has the lead for most of this cut, and it’s based on the iconic “Prevues of Coming Attractions” music associated with grindhouse films. (I tried looking into the origins of this piece of music, but a few quick Google searches didn’t reveal much.) It builds in drama across its runtime, with brass adding a sense of tongue-in-cheek grandiosity.
Edit: Someone on Facebook pointed out that the original version of this is “Funky Fanfare” by Keith Mansfield, and I’d actually heard another cover of this before: “Queen St. Gang” by Arzachel.
“The Revenger” kicks off with some Floydian guitar noodling as a pulsing synth pattern builds. Soon, though, it explodes into a throbbing, dark synthwave piece. The Revenger is a Terminator-style film about humanity fighting for survival against a robotic threat, and that premise is conveyed perfectly through the music. I’m normally not a big fan of synthwave, but it feels appropriate here, as the band purposely evokes 1980s sci-fi. Triumphant guitar lines occasionally soar above the darker synth backing, and the partially-synthesized vocals are a nice touch, too.
“Master Thief ‘77” follows, and it’s a major tonal shift. This piece is much jazzier, with a smooth, slinking flute pattern. The ostinato piano line and hand percussion add tension, and the band effectively builds the titular thief’s sense of mystique. This composition is followed by the goofy little “Let’s All Go to the Lobby!” You already know what that sounds like.
John Carpenter-esque horror synths and skittering high hats evoke an atmosphere of dread in the opening moments of “Endless Calamity”. The mood remains claustrophobic and doom-laden, even as the keyboard tones shift from heavy and oppressive to airy and haunting about halfway through. Layers of effects drench stretched-out guitar lines. Despite some structural similarities to “The Revenger”, this cut feels both complementary and distinct.
“Blood Money” opens with gentle, slightly sad piano and chimes. After the sound of a coin dropping, though, it turns into an energetic, determined march. Country flavors are heavy and easily mark this as the theme music for a Western. This piece is the most guitar-forward cut on the album, and their guitarist does a great job providing both engaging solos and a fun, jangly backing.
What follows is the 12-minute title track. When I first listened to Grind House, I thought it felt somewhat unnecessary. On subsequent listens, though, I’ve definitely warmed up to it. It features music from all six preceding songs cut together for a movie theater experience of coming attractions, including film dialog and crowd chatter. Hearing all four trailers back to back with such wild musical variation, as well overtly comedic vocals, reminds me a lot of classic Zappa.
This is all music we’ve heard before, but the dialog truly elevates it. There are some great moments in here, like the line from The Revenger trailer, “The year 1994. It is the future,” said in a dramatic tone that perfectly emulates the classic “movie trailer guy” voice. There’s also the character who says, “He’ll come after us…for revenge!” and an homage to the classic, famously flat and overlong, “Oh my god!” from Troll 2. Master Thief ‘77 features quippy one-liners and exasperated cops. With a tagline like “24 hours to live. 24 hours to die,” Endless Calamity is also an incredibly believable trailer experience. I don’t think there’s any film dialog featured, though; just narration. Blood Money’s trailer features more humorously hackneyed dialog (“There are two ways to live: by money or blood”) and a Wilhelm scream.
I was promised a left-field, perplexing Merlin record, and boy, oh boy, does this deliver! Synthwave, spaghetti Western, jazz, psychedelic rock, and more don’t so much merge as have an incredibly entertaining slap-fight with each other. Nothing about this record should go together, but it all clashes in the best ways possible.
Score: 82/100
The Elite Extremophile 