CD Review: Red Monroe

by Kaitlin Parker

From the opening chords of “Shotgun Heat (Beautiful Window),” the first song on Red Monroe’s self-titled release, I could sense something immediately appealing about this “intellectual art-rock” group. While the album does get better with every listen, it’s not the type that requires time to grow on you. You will want to dance, or at least sway, the first time you hear them. That Red Monroe is good is not hard to identify. What’s tricky to pin down is what exactly makes them so likable.

Red Monroe’s image-laden songs evoke scenes of dusty plains in an age of electronica. Think Ryan Adams meets…Bloc Party. If you don’t have a car, Red Monroe makes you want to buy one, if only to listen to this CD with the windows down and the volume up.

“A Return to the Old Way of Thinking” features a half sung, half chanted chorus about life “in a world that’s so emotional.” This is the type of song that breeds a million wannabes, teenage garage bands banging away on makeshift instruments. Rest assured that Red Monroe is the real deal though, surely citing more than a handful of musical influences, but creating something uniquely their own.

A nice drum solo introduces “Carolina Cigarette.” As the song progresses, you’re almost able to trick yourself into believing that listening to it is a form of exercise—I swear your heart rate inexplicably picks up. Why this tune isn’t being played at frat houses across America is beyond me-- I’m pretty sure it would inspire some solid hands-in-the-air-jumping-up-and-down dancing.

The second half of the album takes on a distinctly different feel than the first, beginning with “Blue Mountain Air.” Here, Red Monroe takes a more solemn approach, but with strikingly likable instrumentals and a type of clarity that allows for appreciation of simplicity, especially in comparison to their earlier, layer-filled tracks.

When I played Red Monroe for friends, “Wild Eyes, Part 2” was the song that consistently received the most compliments. A tinge of sadness balanced with by an upbeat tempo does create a kind of multi-purpose tune, appropriate for a variety of occasions.

The great thing about Red Monroe, musically and lyrically, is that they’re able to create unfamiliar tunes and situations relatable while at the same time taking the usual ho-hum themes and making them feel strange, not unlike a good Gothic novel. Think Freud’s notion of the uncanny.

It looks like Red Monroe has a few more shows in Dallas before they head to the west coast. Catch them if you can and say you saw them when.