SCATTERBRAIN — Mundus Intellectualis (review)

SCATTERBRAIN — Mundus Intellectualis album cover EP · 1994 · Funk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
Vim Fuego
For reasons unknown, Scatterbrain never hit the big time. The band had what seemed like all the right ingredients- an edgy, yet commercially viable sound, great musicians, a consummate showman for a singer, and damn it, they were great song writers. Their single "Don't Call Me Dude" was a cult novelty hit in 1990, which they followed up with the critically acclaimed album `Here Comes Trouble'.

However, Scatterbrain disappeared from sight some time around 1994. The final ripple on the surface was `Mundus Intellectualis', an EP recorded in a desperate attempt to keep a record deal.

In itself, `Mundus Intellectualis' is not far removed from either the debut or the 1991 album `Scamboogery', in that Scatterbrain's trademark zany humour and satirical view of society remained intact, along with the Faith No More/Red Hot Chilli Peppers style technical groove. However, it has a feel of desperation, a band drowning clutching at straws. Songs like "Everybody Does It" revisits subject material covered by "Logic", "Write That Hit" is "Tastes Just Like Chicken", part two, and unfortunately, there's no "Don't Call Me Dude" sized hits to be found. It seems too restrained, like the band was playing safe.

Scatterbrain kept their sense of humour though. "How Could I Love You" is a grubby love song, featuring the refrain "But baby, how could I love you if you won't lie down". The off the wall "Beer Muscles" carries on in the same vein as "Swiss Army Girl", Grandma's House Of Babes" and the legendary "Don't Call Me Dude".

No Scatterbrain release would be complete without a rendition of "Down With The Ship", the band's ever-evolving homage to their influences (read: rip off riffs wholesale). It's a fun little ditty, this time featuring Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Nirvana, Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", "The Star Spangled Banner", and Woody Woodpecker's theme song.

There's not a lot here to really impress. The enthusiasm shown in the band's earlier material seemed near on dried up, and the new ideas were thin on the ground, and Scatterbrain were trying too hard, forgetting how to enjoy themselves. Scatterbrain's career ended with a whimper, not a bang.
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