Ramona Falls

I mean, if you don’t believe me, check out the free track, “I Say Fever” at Barsuk. It’s a bit heady, but it ends with a wonderful piano-keys thumping…. it’s really too bad that the song is so short, even at four minutes.

So, I found out that Knopf’s no stranger to the music-thing, having spent the last nine years (and continuing) in an indie rock band called Menomena (whose name is pronounced like Piero Umilani’s Mah Na Mah Na). They’ve managed to release three albums, and with their latest, Friend and Foe, also available on the same label. From my sampling of Menomena, they seem more or less like Ramona Falls, but with layers and layers of sounds and vocals.

While I think Knopf tries to do is make the music to be cohesive with the vocals. Take for example, “Always Right”, a bitter song about someone he personally know who’s “always right“. The angry vocals with loud drums really makes for an antagonizing song. As an album, this song works quite well with the very pleasant, playful piano instrumental song that preceeds it.

I still think “I Say Fever” is the best song on the album, followed by “Russia”, “The Darkest Day”, and “Bellyfulla” – these three songs features backup singers. The review copy I have does not include backup singing credits, but apparently over 35 of Knopf’s friends appears on the record.

Ramona Falls is currently heading out on tour to promote the album. If you want to check them out live, but not quite sure if it’s your type of music, you can stream the whole album via barsuk.com/media (I am told it’s only available for a week, so hurry). You can also pick up the album on various format at the above website. There’s also always Amazon as an alternative.