Tiny Mix Tapes

styles: indie folk, alt-country
others: Swearing at Motorists, Royal City, Songs:Ohia

Small Town Murder Scene
Junkshop, 2003
rating: 4/5
reviewer: wyatt

I caught the end of a FemBots set a few months back and remember thinking their performance was quite interesting. Unfortunately all I got to hear was about a song and a half, but it was enough to make an impression. There were only two people on stage, but the sound they produced should have coming from three or four. From that song and a half though I knew these guys were worth a little investigation.

Interesting and worthwhile are certainly fitting descriptions when discussing FemBots and its second full-length, Small Town Murder Scene. Before that release, FemBots started to gain notoriety in Canadian indie rock circles for its affinity toward “found sounds” in performance and on its first release. That is, using everything and anything they could get their hands on to generate sound.

The members of FemBots haven’t altogether abandoned their found sounds approach; they have just focused a little more on traditional song structure, and the results make for an intriguing listen. On Small Town Murder Scene you’ll hear songs thoughtfully constructed by piano, guitar, violin, sirens, tape loops, saws, banjos, clocks ticking, and more.

The atmosphere of the album at first listen appears mostly dark, and rightly so, considering the title. But FemBots remain unpredictable and let some positive moments creep through. The “The Transit Song” builds from a simple guitar and organ loop that has an old home recording played over top. The lyrics are from a song called “Look to the Rainbow." The old-style croon somehow works as it repeats its refrain several times. The surprisingly upbeat title track starts off as a simple solo turn at the piano before the FemBots Auxiliary Players show up transforming it into a country saloon rave-up complete with sing-along chorus and a waterfall effect handclap section.

As Small Town Murder Scene moves along you're kept on your toes because you’re not quite sure what it is you will hear next in the song or in the next song. It may be the use of a ticking clock for rhythm on “A Million Dead End Jobs” or the swampy funk blues combo of “Mom’s Ether Blues,” which springs up out of nowhere with ‘Mom’ even making a hilarious guest appearance halfway through the song. It’s this quirky unpredictability that helps to make Small Town Murder Scene an endearing listen. At a relatively brief 36 minutes, and only nine tracks (if you discount the Intro/Outro sequence), Small Town Murder Scene leaves me very interested to hear what’s next.

1 Intro
2 Broken and Blue
3 Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist
4 The Transit Song
5 A Million Dead End Jobs
6 What Comes After One
7 Small Town Murder Scene
8 Mom’s Ether Blues
9 Theme From A Radio Play
10 Tombstone Blues
11 Outro