Scatterbrain

Mundis Intellectualis (Pavement)
by Joe Hacking

What do you get when you take four headbanging musicians, add gobs of funk, a smidgen of classical music, a dash of rap, a shake of country/western and a couple hits of Frank Zappa? Scatterbrain, the funniest thing to hit rock since Alice Bowie. The creators of such bizarre compositions as “Don’t Call Me Dude,” “I’m With Stupid,” and “Down With The Ship,” this quartet of chemically imbalanced individuals has returned yet again from the edge of obscurity with a new disk on a new label, Pavement Music.

While it’s great to see Scatterbrain still producing material, I was rather disappointed to see Mundis Intellectualis, was only a seven song EP. It’s been quite a few years since their Scamboogery album came out, and I was hoping for a full-length release. But when I learned of guitarist Paul Nieder’s motorcycle accident and the band’s legal battles with its previous major label bosses, I understood (pretty big of me, huh?).

So now Scatterbrain is with Pavement and Mundis Intellectualis speaks of a Scatterbrain returning to the punchier, heavier sound of Here Comes Trouble. Musical proficiency and sense of composition have increased along with the heaviness factor, and their wit and sense of the ribald has sharpened since Scamboogery. They are still insane.

The first track on Mundis Intellectualis, “Write That Hit,” speaks of the scamboogery they endured during their jaunt with a major label. Other musical highlights on this quick little teaser include some outstanding guitarwork by Paul Nieder on “A Funny Thing,” a seriously mean bass line on “How Could I Love You,” courtesy of bassist Guy Brogna, and the “new and improved” version of “Down With The Ship,” (from the Ludichrist days) featuring updated mystery riffs. As always, drummer Mike Boyko’s hammerings sit at the foundation of ScatterB’s funky hard rock sound, while deranged lead singer Tommy Christ still leaps out from the speakers at you with his in-your-face vocal style, pontificating with the band’s deranged and bawdy poetry.

Mundis Intellectualis puts Scatterbrain back on the tracks and proves that this New York-based band of badass musicians still have some butt-kickin’ to do before they’re done. Indeed, they are not going down with the ship.