Mz Ann Thropik - A SilentScream

Fri 1st Jun, 2007 in Music Reviews

It has taken six years, a lot of gigs, and over a dozen band members, but Mz Ann Thropik have finally released an EP. Their single from last year, Sweet Love Beat, was so good I thought they had peaked. Could they produce another song that was as good? Are they a one hit band? A Silent Scream proves Mz Ann Thropik are a band with an arsenal of good songs. I decided to track them down and find out more about the five songs on this release.

Damsel in Distress examines the life of singer Magdalena’s great, great grandmother who was abducted by Count Dracula. He wooed her with flowers until, eventually, they made a film together. I found guitarist Kerry waiting outside the Golden Barley Hotel for free pies. He was excited about the song, describing it as a great driving song, a song that is fun to play while behind the wheel. He was especially fond of the monstrous guitars and creepy noises. The start of the song reminds me of walking through a dark, eerie, forest and then, as the song kicks in, I feel like I am careering around on a rickety, old, wooden roller coaster.

A Silent Scream is about a woman who can’t talk, she can only scream. Magdalena had a picture of her, but the woman has since disappeared from the photo. It sounded mysterious and I was hoping drummer Damien could explain more. I found him walking up George Street, headphones glued to his head and headbanging to his own drum patterns. He ranted about the drums on this track and how the drumming connects with the other musicians and accentuates the vocals. This interplay allowed him to play on a new level, and that clearly excited him. He yelled, “It’s my favourite song to play”, as he continued up the street.

Stain recounts the day Magdalena woke up to find a big, black stain on her pants. I was pondering the Rorschach like qualities of this stain when the world started spinning and I found myself sliding through time. I was back in the 1980’s and Magdalena was visiting her lover, Dave Vanian, in hospital. Magdalena was unimpressed by Dave’s moustache, so he frantically burnt it off to appease her. Stain is a sensual song. Magdalena describes recording it as being like the best orgasm of her life. During recording she envisioned being in a dark room with candles and someone whispering provocatively to her. She collapsed after the song sweaty and exhausted, with sex hair matted to her face. Stain, when played live, draws the crowd in to the pleasure as Magdalena works them towards the climax. She hopes the recorded version will work that way on the listener.

Get To You details Magdalena’s crush on a parking inspector. She would drive around the city to attract his parking infringements that she cherished like love letters. One day she found him on Myspace but, because true love is never easy, she found herself the subject of a restraining order. I found myself disorientated travelling back through time and I woke up in bed beside the bassist, TigGrrr, who seemed very happy with himself. TigGrrr claims Get To You as the band’s poppiest song. He wanted to create an electro disco anthem, but Mz Ann Thropik are a little dark for pure pop, and it evolved in to something more subverse. The pop elements are still there and you may find yourself unknowingly singing the song in the shower. TigGrrr overlayed the bass four times to fatten the sound and the structure of the song is such that it begs to be remixed. A pumped up remix would certainly be a dance floor filler.

Dynamite finishes the EP like a slap to the face. It’s a song about conformity and people compromising originality to fit in with the masses and media propaganda. A song about people forgetting their soul and who they really are. It sounded serious and I couldn’t tackle such matters on an empty stomach, so I headed to Fiesta Mexicana where keyboardist Princess B was making nachos. She said playing this song makes her feel like a catsuited, pink haired criminal in a James Bond film. She also likened one of her keyboard sounds to a frog transforming, like in 2001 A Space Odyssey. B described the song as having the crispiness of corn chips, the cheesiness of a three cheese enchilada, the sauciness of green sauce, the spiciness of habaneras, the smoothness of sour cream, and chunkiness of meat (or beans for the vegetarians).

I’d completed my mission but I’m not sure what I learnt. I didn’t care. The EP was good, and that kept me happy at night.