In a town where the highlight of a night is loitering in front of 7-11 with the bipolar Marshall manning register, you can't help but wonder what these kids are going to produce. Surrounded by triumphant Redwood trees, aging hippies on oxygen tanks, a cloud piercing mountain, and bridges into concrete realities, The Abi Yoyos have self-released the sleeper hit of 2006. Somewhere in between the sounds of grunge, protest folk, and alt-punk you can find ten songs that'll make you ponder, "What IS The Abi Yoyos?"
While you wonder, I'll answer. The Abi Yoyos are four boys from Mill Valley, California who defy cookie cutter down to the "c." Well, both "c"s, and the "k" too, because that sounds like a "c." While fermenting their own sound on Mill Valley, by no means do the songs sound too much alike. Each track maintains a feeling of coherency while lapping the previous and subsequent tracks. It's a good thing when every time you listen to an album each song becomes your new second favorite. Not your primary favorite because "Nayirah" is grafted into that position permanently. It might sound cheesy, but "Nayirah" is a powerful song. After a few minutes of a noisy jam session, the song moves forth and stops with acoustic guitar and Shawn Mehrens crooning. Mehrens croons,
Kuwait is safe in our hands now you can all go back to bed with visions of babies in their incubators dancing in your heads. Hey, look out your window- out into the fray. I'm the golden haired soldier here to take you away.
This quiet part sounds Phil Ochs-inspired with the guitar playing and the way Mehrens' voice warbles. Then drums begin a marching beat and cascade into a heavy groove with all instrumental volumes achieving their maximum output. "Nayirrrrrah," Mehrens swoons. It's catchy. At the same time the song is meaningful, it's about a 15-year-old girl who was coached by a PR firm to lie about Iraqi soldiers pulling babies out of incubators to boost soldier morale. Matt Bleyle (guitarist/lyric writer) posted this on their Myspace, "I can only hope that this song might inspire the listener while watching CNN to wonderââ¬Â¦ What's Nayirah and what's real?"
Songs on Mill Valley cover many styles ("Postindustrial Flesh"'s robotic rhythm, "Quagmire"'s odd riffage, etc.) and even saunter into an upbeat pop structure with the initial track, "All The Troubadors." It's a showcase of their songwriting skills to be able to meld punk dissonance with dynamic hooks in other songs and still be able to write a catchy number without hearing any sweats being broken. If you like songs that are filled with lots of weird parts and flow all over the place like a hose inserted inside a cheese shredder without sounding contrived, then Mill Valley is your home.
Comparing The Abi Yoyos first full-length, Mill Valley to their previous 7", The World is Not My Home, shows how a band that writes weird punk songs can progress into their own style without sounding like they're trying to create unlistenable art. They still take their punk influences, but wrap them around influences from bands such as The Jesus Lizard and The Fugs to let us in on their own creation. All the meanwhile creating a mood of seriousness through songs with political stories but keeping it fun with lyrics like, "In Barney's womb I hardly knew we were walking through Mogadishu." But still, it sound like this world is not The Abi Yoyos' home.
Maybe this analyzing shovel I'm digging with is too long. But, think of this album how Mill Valley is to San Francisco and Berkeley: Mill Valley is on the outskirts of rooted influences, still being close enough where you can rock the fuck out wearing Groucho Marx glasses/moustache, a handful of daisies, and a brain as sharp as the spikes on your retired black leather jacket. With producer George Horn (Creedence Clearwater Revival, Too $hort) at the controls, Mill Valley is the album you'll play for your friends and watch as they get angry at you for not telling them about this band earlier in your relationship.
