If there’s a dictatorial takeover of the Murfreesboro local music scene, it was started by experimental funk-electronica multi-instrumentalist and beatmaker Andy Campbell-Firkus (making music under the moniker Firkenstein) with his self-released, full-length beat mix Use Your Ears and Hear Me, an instrumental collection that not only struts the artist’s tonal ability to facilitate such an epic power grab, but also the audacity to provide the musical score.
Firkenstein came to life in 2019, when Campbell-Firkus debuted a harnessed and bashful early attempt at the mix board with Cornelius-like playfulness in mixing his digital and analog synth, guitar and drum instrumentation and arpeggiator-fueled MIDI experimentation.
Firkenstein remained highly electrified over the following two years, releasing brazenly ambitious works that established a gritty determination resembling the rule of uber-producer Rick Rubin, displaying a versatility suggestive of a Nine Inch Nails-meets-Devo match.
Use Your Ears and Hear Me dropped in November 2021, somehow instrumentally symbolizing the charismatic gestures of an orator’s hands, with the determined pointer finger of arena-worthy lead guitar chops and synth riffs on one hand and the pounding fist of a low, grunge-distorted fuzz bass from the other.
Opening with a prime example encapsulating the metaphorical gesturing of said orator, “Skimmin’ & Skammin’” builds to a crescendo in the vein of Clutch, or perhaps Audioslave’s “Cochise,” bangin’ dictatorial hands on the podium with an impressively composed and captivating introduction.
Once the listeners are entranced, Firkenstein moves on current issues, easing back the tempo to depict relaxing, accepting views of societal vice in “Drunk in the Tub” as well as the dangers of fossil fuels in the foreboding “More Oiled Than a Diesel Train,” decked with phased ’80s synth and overdriven bass.
“The Void Is Always Waiting” continues the dirty, synth-accented bass-pounding, while layered guitar solos effectively seize the spotlight on the Arcade Fire-esque “Death Is Not the Greatest Loss” and “No Man Needs Nothing,” the latter blazing in the stratosphere atop a low, bluesy picked guitar.
Firkenstein adopts the guitar stance of Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner on “Forcing Thoughts Into Other People’s Brains” but quickly snaps out of such sonic malevolence, doubling down on his Devo influence to create a poppier, more crowd-pleasing message before leaving on a high note to the macho-bassed “Hunting at Night.”
Use Your Ears and Hear Me sounds and feels like a historical speech, able to convince the masses and sway us all, yet never once does Firkenstein use his voice as his call to action.
That’s a solid beat album.
Find Firkenstein’s Use Your Ears and Hear Me, and his entire body of work, at firkenstein.bandcamp.com.
