Neutral Milk Hotel is essentially a one man band consisting of Jeff Mangum. But don’t expect any lo-fi Sebadoh bullshit. It’s a rare indie rock album that actually sweeps your emotions into a place where The Who, The Small Faces’ Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, The Flaming Lips and psychedelic marching bands coexist in a stomping mystical church revival breakdown. The lyrics are too obtuse to decipher when examined closely, but when heard the way it’s supposed to be, they evoke a rush of early Bob Dylan intensity, and you know exactly what feelings are being expressed.
Mangum’s sometimes bleating voice can certainly be grating, especially during the squirm-inducing passages in the minute long intro to “The King of Carrot Flowers, Pts. 2-3” where he goes on about loving Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the excitement of the music shines through as the horn joins in, and the band explodes with abandon at the 1:30 mark. Just like the best gospel music can induce chills in the most hardcore atheists like myself, the music transcends the awkardness of the lyricist. Knowing that it was inspired by Anne Frank’s The Diary Of A Young Girl gives a bit more meaning and emotional weight behind the chaotic imagery that evokes the wonders, passions and fears of childhood.
It’s amazing when you realize such a grand-sounding statement was created with mainly an acoustic guitar, with a little help from his friends on organ, flugelhorn, euphonium, singing saw, accordian, zanzithophone, trombone and milleann pipes. This is ambitious, majestic music.
