This latest EP from Freddie Ruppert, aka This Song Is a Mess But So Am I, is captivating from the beginning with its deconstructed beats, rants, and an abundance of distortion thrown in every direction.
Part of the charm is that the songs have so much chaos yet never fall apart because the rhythm churning underneath and the vocals keep things in place. Nor does it hurt that the songs are not purely free-form and are actually about something. While some lingering issues remaining from his mother’s death appear on the disc, he also takes the time to chastise a music critic on "Is This Childish Enough Sean Ford?" and react to a friend’s conversion to over-the-top Christianity on "Congratulations!" The only instrumental is an exploratory untitled track, and is notable for its introspection amidst other songs that prove consistently exuberant and intoxicating.
On this EP, Ruppert manages to turn dense layers of distortion into works of heavy beauty.
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