Posted on: April 6, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 1

Logs In The Mainstream – The Ridiculous & The Sublime / 2008 LogsMOLE / 12 Tracks / http://www.logsinthemainstream. com /

Logs In The Mainstream start out their “The Ridiculous & The Sublime” with “Gotta Get Up”, a track that vacillates between sounding as if it came out in the sixties or the nineties. The amount of influences that come forth during the 12 tracks on “The Ridiculous” are legion; hints of The Beatles (which the cover of this album parodies), Beastie Boys, Anthrax, Jane’s Addiction and countless others can all be heard.

Logs In The Mainstream have been around for nearly twenty years (they started in 1990), and show their maturity as an act through the number of styles broached during “The Ridiculous & The Sublime”. This means that “Grateful” is a track that calls forth the Ramones, while “Smallest of Places” links together They Might Be Giants with Jane’s Addiction. At some point, each of the tracks on this album could be heard on rotation on a major radio station – there is that much charisma present during the songs on this album. The bagpipes take a focal place during “Don’t Come To Maryland”, which is perhaps the best track on the disc. The martial sound given the track by the bagpipes and drums provide yet another sound and style to associated with Logs In The Mainstream. The subject material presented during this track may be off the wall, but listeners will sing along with it just as if it was a serious song. The band takes a ska-punk style to heart during “If Hitler Had Sideburns”, and it is during this track that the production of the album really is shown to be miles beyond what many punk acts are capable of bringing to the table.

Where the humor present on “The Ridiculous & The Sublime” is typically oriented towards adults, Logs In The Mainstream create a track or two for the kids. For example, “The Circus” is one of those tracks that uses a wide array of different sounds and elicits thoughts that will keep kids interested in the album, at least until “Tequila & Power Tools” scares them all away. Regardless, each of the tracks is good enough to be a single, and this album will stay strong no matter how many times one listens to it. I was not familiar with Logs In The Mainstream before picking up “The Ridiculous & The Sublime”, but I know that I will be paying attention to them in the months and years to come. Give the disc a go.

Top Tracks: Don’t Come To Maryland, Grateful

Rating: 7.9/10

1 people reacted on this

  1. This album is a must. Every album from the Logs is a must. Being a close relative of the lead singer “Mole”. I got to experience the album from the first demo. And I loved it though all the way. Every album from the Logs has a nice strong corporeal feel to it. Because every song is about life and everything you don’t want to hear about it…in a funny kind of way. Sure teenagers and kids these days, like me, won’t fully understand the songs. But Mole brings an array of sounds from different cultures in every album he has, he brings in of course the bag-pipes of the Scottish region and even a dirigdidoo(or how ever you spell the damn thing) of the Australian out back to make every song interesting and unexpected. But through out his array of songs, from the sixties to hard as hell heavy death metal, he brings one message. Be Yourself.

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