The third studio release of Santa Cruz-based Estradaspehere, “Quadropus”, kicks off with a whopping four minutes of frenzied Eastern European gypsy-rock, then just sort of fizzles out about half-way through the album after some otherwise quite crazy, chaotic Mr. Bungleish tracks. Ironically, what probably makes this album so unique is also what ultimately causes its downfall - there’s little to no continuity in terms of atmosphere or style throughout much of it; instead the band choose to jump wildly from style to style with seemingly no regard for its impact on the listening experience as a whole. One minute they’re playing 1950s rock & roll, in another it’s brutal death metal, and this makes the whole thing sound sloppy, effectively ruining any chance of building up an overall, cozy sound picture for listeners to follow along with. Thumbs up for an attempt at originality by just playing lots of different genres, and to the actual technical abilities of the band members to master such diverse genres skillfully, but a little more fusing and album conceptualisation would be greatly appreciated.

As it stands now, too much of the record sounds like it was thrown together in the last minute using spare songs from past projects, and that most certainly isn’t worth my money. Some of the songs are genuinely interesting, but the tedious fillers like “King Krab Battle” and “A Car Ride in Idealistic Ethiopia (Part One)” drag it down into the mud. Also, what’s up with that cheesy R. Kelly-like ballad at the end, which runs for something like six minutes? Meh, I guess it’s just too ‘avant-garde’ for my simple mind to understand…

Year Released: 2003
Label: Mimicry Records
Related Link: Estradasphere Official Website
Date Reviewed: 2004-01-11
Author: Andreas