The Leader

Issue date: 11/8/06 Section: Music

Every now and again an album comes out that questions normalcy. Generally, music is an art form that welcomes change and ingenuity, but for some reason Two Ton Boa's new creation Parasiticide falls somewhere in between ingenuity and plain old weird. Headed by singer/writer/arranger Sherry Fraser, Two Ton Boa are definitely a unique blend. Fraser, a classically-trained musician leads her band as a rocking vocalist with bass in hand. Her lyrics are morbid, the hooks are curiously done and the music is incredibly bassy. But for some reason it kinda works.

Two Ton Boa are an interesting mix of music that sounds like old David Bowie, Antichrist Superstar-era Marilyn Manson and Veruca Salt. Interesting, indeed. Another variation that Two Ton Boa bring to the table is the almost dual-bass aspect. The only guitars on this entire album are baritone and combined with Fraser's bass; it's as if there were no guitars at all. This weird mixture of pop and bass is evident on the standout tracks "Cyanide" and "Favorite Bloody Patient." There is even a circus aspect to the music with the synth, which really throws everything into one giant concoction. Much of Fraser's vocals are doubled-tracked so they range from highs to lows in both speakers. Fortunately, her voice is good enough to pull it off and the production is pretty good.

Two Ton Boa lack, above all, in the categories of quantity and quality. There is not enough material on the album, coming in at just under 37 minutes, and the song total numbers at just nine. Plus the music is not all that fantastic to have such a small amount on an album, so it's sad but true. Songs like "Bad Seed" and "Ms. Fix It" are too boring and plain to support an album like this. A lot of the tempo on Parasiticide is slow, and the simple sounds of pure bass often become dreary to the point of wanting to scroll over to some death-metal on your mp3 player just to wake up.

Two Ton Boa might be on to something with their approach but they don't seem to hit their capabilities yet. It is kind of hard to determine whether or not this band is too weird to be worth a listen. The final word on Two Ton Boa is that they are an OK band with some ok music. Overall, the album might be worth a listen if you're looking for something different.

2.5 of 5

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