Infected Mushroom – Army of Mushrooms

Is there a better feeling in the world than furtively opening a brand new Infected Mushroom album and inserting it into the car stereo? Army of Mushrooms has a great cover, twelve mouth watering tracks to look forward to, and the first minute of the opening track is as good as anything they’ve ever produced. As I drive towards the south coast listening for the first time, what could possibly go wrong?

Well everything really! Believe it or not, after the first one minute the whole album disappears up its own backside. It basically descends into self indulgent, electronic noodle-doodling and faffing about of the highest order. Every track contains the obligatory show-offy extended breakdown, a complete lack of song structure and more big/breakbeat, choppy/changey meandering. In short it’s rubbish and it honestly pains me to say that about a Mushroom’s album. I’m reliably informed that the musical style of the album is akin to ‘dubstep’, which the kids are particularly fond of these days. Dubstep seems to combine my three least favourite things; showing off, noodle doodling and boredom, and as such it should be banned.

And do you know who I blame for this constant need for bands to change and try new ventures? David Bowie! Bowie is entirely responsible for the commonly held belief that to survive in the music business an artist must constantly reinvent themselves musically and revamp their image. For him this just meant wearing a new fancy dress costume like a clown or an alien suit, but for the Mushrooms it led to a complete change of musical direction and ultimately down the dead end street that is dubstep. Bowie is also responsible for Madonna, Lady Gaga and to a certain extent Elton John. Need I go on?

There are very few positives other than the first minute of ‘Never Mind’ which is pure perfection. A few other tracks have promising intros, but it’s always a false dawn as they descend into a formulaic muso-noodle-fest. Unbelievable I know, but best avoided!