After reviewing Flummox’s debut full-length, Phlummoxygen, last spring I didn’t think much could surprise me on the Murfreesboro-based trio’s follow-up release, Selcouth. Just by examining the track titles and lengths—some clocking in over 12 minutes and some just under two—I knew I’d need to once again listen with an open mind. Well, in true Flummox fashion (which, for a refresher, means to “perplex greatly” or “bewilder”) comes another avant-garde/experimental release that even the most open mind might reject by the time it ends.
While Phlummoxygen was by no means accessible upon first listen, the album eventually grew on me after a few spins. Experimental music can be hit or miss, but what the band’s first album lacked in accessibility, it made up for in somewhat intriguing compositions and humorous lyrics. I expected Selcouth to pick up where Phlummoxygen left off, but it instead leaves a sour taste when bizarre lyrics take a disturbing turn later in the album. And despite the few pleasant lines and riffs hidden within the hour-long release, most of the tracks are more irritating than interesting, such as the the two-minute noise explosion “Tongue-Saw,” or even stretched too thin, like on the messy rocker “Depression Heat.”
According to the band’s bio, the members of Flummox—Blake Dellinger, Drew Jones and Jody Lester—created a band that “could and would play anything they wanted to.” This is a great concept for three guys who want to play heavy stoner metal one second and jazz/funk the next, but there’s a track on Selcouth that easily discredits the rest of the release. I get that the very essence of this band is to “perplex” and “bewilder,” but there should be a line drawn somewhere, and a nine-minute song about perpetrating rape, like “Bark, Paddle & Ball,” is definitely crossing it. I’ll spare you the genuinely disturbing details of the track, but they’re so disgusting that even the band opted to leave the lyrics off their Bandcamp page. I’m all for artistic freedom, but it’s hard to take a band seriously when they’re relentlessly and repeatedly screaming about a humiliating act of abuse involving bodily waste for three minutes straight. Even if you favored their last release, I’d recommend skipping this one.
But, if you dare, it is available on Flummox’s Bandcamp page.
