Mono & World's End Girlfriend

Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain

(Temporary Residence)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

It’s no news to many people that Mono is one of the most thoughtful and talented bands making records this decade. The Japanese quartet has already released one album this year, titled You Are There. One good turn deserved another, so they collaborated with Katsuhiko Maeda (aka World’s End Girlfriend) and released their second CD on Temporary Residence this year, Palmless Prayer/ Mass Murder Refrain.

I think that following up a new release so quickly can be treading on dangerous ground. You Are There literally came out just a few months ago. Listeners sometimes will get skeptical of a prolific band and wonder what their motives really were for having two releases so close together. A lot of times, one will turn out to be a big disappointment.

In the case of Mono and WEG I would have to say that even though they walked on thin ice, they didn’t break it. I believe that the collaborative effort of these two bands produces one great project, in fact I think I like this CD better than You Are There.

You can clearly feel the presence of another in the midst of this CD. If you are familiar with Mono, it’s apparent that there is something different about this album. It’s something hard to put your finger on, like when you recognize a face but can’t put a name to it.

I feel that Palmless Prayer/ Mass Murder Refrain lays out the best parts of their classical, contemporary and post-rock sound, and is also greeted with open arms by World’s End Girlfriend’s electronic and dreamy undertones. It’s like when you watch the Wizard of Oz and play Dark Side of the Moon at the same time:  something amazing happens.