Hailing from Edison, NJ (and proud of it!),
the Mongoloids prove that humor is not dead in hardcore with their second release for Eulogy, 2009's
Assorted Music, which despite collecting all of nine new tracks, must be treated as an EP due to its petite 17-minute running time. Virtually all 17 of them are surprisingly engaging, though, thanks to unusually varied guitar textures and tempos that, unlike most hardcore, aren't always set on "stun." So, after assembling something of a mock-opera for the title track's instrumental intro,
the Mongoloids roar into a nicely balanced collection of enthusiastic hardcore stompers, highlighted by multi-riffed standouts like "Circumstantial Criticism," "Withdrawn (Revisited)," and "Redefined Lines" that even feature some pretty tasteful guitar solos, surprisingly enough. Also worth mentioning is the CD's extremely fetching comic book-style artwork, which doesn't make much sense of the interconnected story line linking each track from start to finish, but sure looks bad ass. Its colorful palette may also scare away some hardcore purists expecting their typical doom and gloom, but that would be a real shame given the impressive and entertaining music within. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia