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Boduf Songs, "Internal Memo"
Drawing on literary influences like Franz Kafka and Thomas Ligotti, Mat Sweet returns with an EP about the purgatories and hells that are jobs in the bureaucratic machine. Undoubtedly inspired by the continuing financial crises that have erupted like boils across the world, Sweet has created a concise and precise indictment of the men in suits who have done as much damage to the world as men in military uniforms and priestly robes in past decades and centuries.
It does not take a genius to work out that Sweet is not a fan of working in an office as, from the moment "Temping" begins to the point where it reaches a gorgeous and classic Boduf Songs ending, it is possible to hear the disdain, ennui, and disgust he has for the great, grey side of industry. The other songs reinforce the parasitic and Machiavellian side of those who aim high in big business; on "Infernal Memo," Sweet bitterly intones: "I will kill every dog/And build a tower from the bones, the bones" There is a desperate sense of the constant devouring of individuals by the larger company, all for no real gain even for those at the top of the food chain.
While these ideas have been done to death, particularly in American literature with everyone from the aforementioned Ligotti to Don Delillo covering similar terrain in prose, Sweet’s visions sound remarkably fresh and fit with his previous (equally bleak) releases. Yet despite the grim reality of Internal Memo’s content, Sweet has softened the delivery compared to Boduf Songs’ last album, This Alone in Spite of Everything. "Eternal Memo" could easily be written for Low (especially that delicate guitar solo that appears halfway through) and the lurking threat present in Sweet’s lyrics is reminiscent of Low’s equally angry The Great Destroyer from 2005.
While Internal Memo is great, it is far too short. I sincerely hope this is only a taster of a new Boduf Songs album as I have been itching for one almost since the last one. However, better to be moaning about how short a new release is than the complete lack of one, especially when Internal Memo is so good.
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