On
Lipstick Project "Foam Party", two bands, the
Octopus Project and
Black Lipstick, join forces to form the Lipstick Project. On the disc,
Octopus Project use music on select tracks from
Black Lipstick's Converted Thieves album, recycling their comrade's music on laptop computers. Drum and bass loops, guitar and piano, and even vocals are used from Converted Thieves, adding up to a wild example of remixing. The result is a set of dizzying dance tracks. "Hot Summer" and "A Bee Sack" kick things off with precision and an obvious defiance of musical traditions. Completely unpredictable, the songs offer a swirling mix of blips and bleeps and remixed vocals that are reworked to use vocals as an instrument, often undecipherable. Lyrics are made to be secondary, inviting listeners to accept these Texas bands for what they are: musicians who insist on breaking all the rules. "La Voix d'Yvonne" is a standout, melding catchy instrumentation and hypnotic vocals. A previously-unreleased bonus track also appears in the form of
Black Lipstick's "Funky Soldiers," featuring lead vocals by bassist Steve Garcia. The disc ends as it began, with vocals from "Hot Sinners" being grouped with groove-laden beats on the repetitive-yet-mysterious "Stop Listening and You Are a Quitter." The disc as a whole serves to confuse and entertain, which is no doubt what the bands intended. Peek-a-Boo Records released the disc in 2004. ~ Stephen Cramer