A self-described “rock operetta” that’s inspired by the 1979 film Welcome to New Granada. Here’s where the problem arises: I’ve never seen it. Still, people must be onto something: I’ve heard so many references to this movie over the years, and Sound Virus actually put out a pretty good comp LP five or six years back with the same title in homage of the film. Anyway, the other problem is that I’ve since lost or recycled the one-sheet that came with this album, but I seem to remember terms like “art punk” and people like Frank Zappa being tossed around. While those references may ring true, and while Drats!!! are certainly good musicians and this album sounds fully realized and fleshed out, it winds up coming across as an icky merging of jazz-fusion and prog rock, with “wacky” vocals and a dash of funk thrown in, meaning jaded Portland hipsters with an irony fetish may enjoy it for its camp value, but I doubt the average Razorcake reader will. Sorry, guys.
–keith (Drats!!!)