Bubblemath--Such Fine Particles Of The Universe, Independent Release, 2002
There are forces at work here you just don’t understand, nor does, I think, anyone, perhaps not even this delightfully warped Minnesota-based quintet. They’ve been compared to many of the progressive greats and as I’m loath to write a review in which I tick those names off for you one by one; let’s just say that the comparisons (no doubt you’ll see them when you visit the band’s web site or, better yet, hear them when you buy the album for yourself) do ring true. But there’s a lot more at work here than whether or not they remain true to certain progressive idioms or expand on them. Let’s just say this is a band focused on creating energetic, harmonically intriguing music that’s not at all inaccessible. While the blazing "Miscreant Citizen" proves a fine example of what the collective (Blake Albinson [guitar, keyboards], Jay Burritt [bass], Kai Esbensen [keyboards/vocals], Jonathan Smith [vocals, guitar and various other instruments] and James Swensen-Flagg [drums,vocals]) can do, it’s hardly the whole story.
Throughout SFPOTU what you hear again and again is humor, warmth and even a little bit of good old-fashioned musical freak-outs. If "Dancing With Your Pants Down" makes complete sense to you on first listen, you’ve entered a heretofore uncharted reality that I want no part of. Same with "She’s No Vegetarian" a Brian Setzer-on-Faith No More/Mr. Bungle (Ooops, I did it!) romp that features such, er, "tantalizing" lines as, "She packs in pounds of greasy grounds/You can smell it in her stool." Then there’s "Doll Hammer," which recalls (?) Geddy Lee (again, ?) vocalizing about a little, er, "domestic incident." And speaking of Rush, "Help Yourself To A Neighbor" tells truths about, er, "life" in suburbia that Mr. Peart never dared speak. (Okay, so I broke a few of my own "rules" there, but, come on, it’s Bubblemath.) If this sound like your idea of fun (stalker prog?), then you’ll probably want to check out this impossibly, er, "delicious" collection of tunes that’ll have you thinking twice about that impending move to the land of ten thousand lakes.
Reviewer: Jedd Beaudoin
Source: http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=93