Agpak Mum - Self Titled
Kingston Natives Agpak Mum aces out a debut album with their rhythmic bass grooves, synthesizer styling’s and their vigorous vocals.
This is an album that keeps you guessing at what is coming next. As you listen through the tracks you can tell that they are still looking for their own specific sound. A couple of the tracks makes me think of the antics that The Beastie Boys are prone to performing in their songs.
If you are a fan of Rock, a little bit of 80’s Retro, Funk, just to name a few genres then you are going to enjoy this album. Jeremy also does the album justice with his over the top vocals. When I heard that they recorded the album in an apartment I was blown away by the way the vocals on the album came out, especially in the song “All Aboard”.
The Members of Agpak Mum are Jeremy Masurkevitch on Vocals and Keys, Dylan Carquez on Drums, Daniel Chalmers on Guitar, Synth and Percussion and Winston Vinh on Bass Guitar
“All Aboard” is an excellent example of the many different genres that you will find on this album, especially since the song probably changes gears about five different times in the duration of the song. One of my favourite parts in the song is the funky intro to the song. Jeremy shows the capability of his vocals when he hit’s the higher notes in the song. The vocals have the sound of being played in a large empty room which makes the song sound bigger and louder. They keys in the song was a nice touch it hides the sound of the guitar however but does the song justice during the break between a couple of verses.
I am finding it more and more that you are not hearing a band put out a track where you can hear the band having fun making and performing a song. “Don’t Wake Up” is a song where you can tell that Agpak Mum had fun performing the song. Not just because of the laughter in the song but the addition with the slide whistle, and the simple hook that is played over and over again during the starting of the song. I can’t forget to add the fact that the hook is catchy also. The seriousness in the song comes from the lyrics in the song however. I had to take a couple of runs through the song before I got everything that was being sung. The ending of the song I didn’t care for however, I think the song should have just ended instead of the way it did.
You can pick up your copy of the album at their Myspace page www.myspace.com/agpakmum