WIGGLEPUSSY, INDIANA - LIFE AT THE GALLOWS

Wigglepussy, Indiana seems to be a band in the middle of a change. It’s obvious listening to the album that they are very inspired by Mr. Bungle. But as the album unfolds, something else is rising to the surface-– their own original sound.
As a result of this evolution, Life At The Gallows feels uneven. I really enjoy the latter songs, including \"Shadow People\", \"Mishkin\", and the brilliant closer, \"White\". In fact, the disc doesn’t really kick into the good stuff until the third song, \"Transylvanian Moonshine\". They almost lost me again on the next track, the title track, \"Life At The Gallows\", by adding the circus piano back into the mix, but I made it through.
The first couple tunes and the title track point out the problems that most bands have when emulating the Mr. Bungle style of circus rock; they slip over the line of cheesiness that Mike Patton and company avoided so well. It’s not their fault-— it’s a hard line to straddle. But after hearing the latter half of the album, you’ll wonder why they even hang on to the Bungle-isms. After wading through those first few sound-alikes, the album grows into a mature Boingo-meets-Thorn series of epic songs.
While there are some pitfalls on Life At The Gallows, the pluses outweigh the minuses. I only hope that Wigglepussy, Indiana continues to expand on their own sound and ditch the emulation of others. If they do that, the next Wigglepussy, Indiana album will be a masterpiece.