Ramona Falls - “I Say Fever” from Intuit
With Menomena taking their sweet-ass time following up the brilliantly weird, fiercely catchy Friend and Foe, it comes as some solace that band member Brent Knopf decided to release a side project to tide us over while we wait. On Ramona Falls’ Intuit, Knopf collaborates with a whopping 35 fellow musicians to produce 11 songs that are as well-arranged as Menomena at their best, though not nearly as big, strange and urgent as I know Knopf can be. There are some great moments on this album - “I Say Fever,” “Bellyfulla” and “Salt Sack” in particular - unfortunately the whole thing suffers from a lack of risk-taking, making the album sound a bit like a diet version of Menomena. However, sometimes a diet soda it better than no soda at all, and fans of Menomena, Lackthereof, and the Helio Sequence should find plenty of things to appreciate in Ramona Falls.
