The Unmasked Organ Light-Year of Infinity Man

AMG Review of The Unmasked Organ Light-Year of Infinity Man

Ken Taylor
All Music Guide

Quintron is simply an anomaly. He combines elements of '60s and '70s garage rock with late-'70s punk and /p>

o wave vocals and '80s /p>

ew wave dress. Ultimately, his sound is chronologically untraceable and so is his geographic origin (though he claims to be from New Orleans). Nevertheless, Quintron attempts to subvert the archetype of "sultry lounge singer" with his shlocky, twitchy vocals and pointed lyrics that decry the trend of neo-white bluesmen. He hammers this point home on "White Man Style," his critique of Jon Spencer-like indie statesmen. He yells into heavily distorted microphones while crickets chirp, Hammond organs tinkle, and cracked electronic drumbeats come together for an intense and rackety backing track. He sets the controls for squiggly noise and imperfect beats, then howls upper register wails to anyone willing to listen. Like Beck's "Debra" set in slow motion and in a seedier bar than Beck has ever seen, Quintron's swagger and showmanship are unmatched. On Unmasked Organ Light-Year of Infinity Man, Quintron utilizes his original instrument, the Drum Buddy, to compose and recreate the noise that makes it onto this record. Humorously, Drum Buddy seems to mimic the sounds of preset Casio keyboards, and on the track "Certain Girl," one can be sure that Drum Buddy is set on the built-in ossa nova function. Quintron's wife and puppeteer, Miss Pussycat, does make an appearance, but adds little to the mix other than echoing the odd Quintron line for a suggestive yet cutesy girly effect. Overall, a weird winner.