Skeletons:Money

Theme albums are a dicey proposition at best. “Rock" and “opera" are words most folks besides Pete Townsend should leave well apart. However, there's something to be said for a loose, overarching net to hold one's ideas, and Skeletons catch some nifty doubloons on Money (Tomlab). Emerging from the clamor of a busy city street, yearning for sunshine beneath a din of car horns and non-specific rattle, “Fill My Pockets" is a two-finger piano worm that burrows in, then emerges as “The THINGS," disjointed funk that proudly updates Gang of Four, early Prince and '80s Downtown NYC jazz, getting better as it goes, a sort of befuddled longing emerging in Afrobeat blasts and the liquid glide of singer/primary Skeleton, Matt Mehlan. He really does remind one of jagged beauties like Thom Yorke and Kevin Barnes (of Monreal) - sexy in a boyish, milky, ringer tee way. Money trundles along at a strange, compelling gait, one moment jumping into your grill and the next hanging back while it mutters. Yet, there's an undertow drawn from the pervasive longing woven into this uncertain-groove music, a colorful mishmash shaded with slow jam crooning, reggae, New Wave, free jazz and more. Want is central to capitalism and this album reflects that pervasive unease money triggers in many folks. The rocky state of the U.S. economy makes this an oddly prescient offering that taps into the madness and exuberance of the all-mighty-dollar, using it as a great metaphor for all kinds of human exchanges. And you can (sort of) dance to it, too. Neat.