Kaspar Hauser - Quixotic / Taxidermy

Kaspar Hauser is basically a musical project ring-led by midwesterner Thomas Comerford, who had played in several bands in the past. “Quixotic / Taxidermy” is his 2^nd full-length, and his 5^th release altogether. It is an extremely tight sounding album, with glimpses of Jay Farrar, Neil Young and J. Mascis throughout. The liner notes recommend that you play it loud, and that’s excellent advice because this album is chock full of rip-snorting rock and roll. The album kicks off with “Fossil,” a Rolling Stones style riff that attacks the listener right away, and pins him to the ground to make sure he keeps listening. “King Pop” introduces some slightly new-wavy keys and handclaps, but it still manages to have an alt-country bite to it that sounds out of this world, along with lyrics of one who would “trade his kingdom for a song.” Which is what pure country is all about, isn’t it? Comerford also shows that he is willing to take risks, especially by successfully covering Big Star’s “Holocaust,” not one of their easier tunes to cover. My personal favourite song is “Mercury”, a hooky tour de force full of passionate harmonies. Actually, my other favourite song is the excellently titled “Roar or R.I.P.” which reminds me a lot of the aforementioned Farrar, with a real cool sounding honky-tonk piano backing up this fanatical rocker. In fact, the best moment of the whole album is at about 1:51 into that song, the part where a highly infectious bridge leads into the climactic dénouement, the music stops … briefly … drum roll … explosive ending!!! Awesome!

Downloads:
Fossil mp3
King Pop mp3
Without A Word mp3

Visit the Kaspar Hauser myspace page.
Purchase “Quixotic / Taxidermy” here.