We get a lot of rap albums around here. I'm pretty slow to review them and admittedly I don't even review most of them. So imagine my surprise when we got an album from Model Decoy in the inbox. I pressed play and expected another rap album about falling in love with a stand in for a living model. Notice I said another, because I can't take any more albums about body pillows, hentai and harems with the women in your life that you don't actually. Model Decoy's self titled album was a breath of fresh air. Model Decoy is made up of the duo Doron Monk Flake, who does vocals and lyrics, alongside Ari Sadowitz, who plays guitar, bass and is responsible for programming. The album also features David Marvuglio on bass and Dan Gluszak on drums.
The thing about rock albums that don't have million dollar budgets is sometimes, okay a lot of the time, the instrumentation can heavily over power the vocals or vice versa. That doesn't have anything to do with if the music is good or not but it can have a big effect when listening to the album. I bring all this up just to applaud Model Decoy on doing the opposite. The album is mixed well and the vocals aren't overpowered nor are the instruments muffled. Everything comes through clear and it really does have a big effect.
I'd also like to applaud Sadowitz because sometimes it seems like others are in competition with the vocalist trying to over power them. There isn't any of this present and can probably be due to their friendship. That's not to say Sadowitz doesn't get his moments to shine, and trust me, he shines. At around two minutes in the song Hearts in Atlantis, there's a moment when you just have to say "damn, that was nice," and wish it had lasted just a little longer.
The vocals on the album are really cool just because there's some range shown. I found it really interesting that there were moments when they could be considered almost R&B. Of course there are your standard ballads but the big appeal is that Flake is just a good singer who can do a variety of sounds.
Lyrically I'd compare Model Decoy to, I Fight Dragons. I say that because both groups don't stray away from adding the occasional references to various nerd aspects of nerd culture. It's kind of awesome to hear songs inspired by Scott Pilgrim. Yet, Model Decoy doesn't just do songs inspired by nerd culture which helps make sure they don't come off as a novelty act. It's legitimately good music that touches on a variety of topics. It's music that is humanistic first and nerd second.
While I've talked a lot about the different styles Model Decoy brings to the table there's one really important thing that I've failed to mention. Model Decoy is consistent. What I mean by that is that is there aren't any songs where the performance seems phoned in and it seems they give everything they can on every track. Which is really cool because there are no moments where you're left disappointed or confused.
I don't have a track that I dislike, they're all really good in their own rights. I can't even pick a favorite track between "Oxytocin," "Ciao, Knives," and "Would Be King." "Oxytocin," is the opener and it's a really smooth track that pulls you in, even if there were no vocals it would just be a feel good track. Vocals only add to that. With "Ciao, Knives," it's the lyrics that pull me in. The track really just reminds me of all the people who said I couldn't do things. As crazy as it sounds it makes me laugh at them. Meanwhile, "Would Be King," is a much more aggressive sounding track. Of all the tracks it just kicks you in the mouth a little more than the others.
Model Decoy is an project you want to check out. Even if you've never been a fan of rock music you'll want to give this one a shot because it doesn't stick to that full throttle rock stereotype tha tis present in a lot of projects. You can hear Model Decoy streaming on SoundCloud and Band Camp. You can also follow them on Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, YouTube and ModelDecoy.com
Off topic: I'd just like to note that the Model Decoy social media game is on point. Every site has a different image of a duo made up of one black guy and one white guy. It's just so awesome to me and has nothing to do with anything.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD
The thing about rock albums that don't have million dollar budgets is sometimes, okay a lot of the time, the instrumentation can heavily over power the vocals or vice versa. That doesn't have anything to do with if the music is good or not but it can have a big effect when listening to the album. I bring all this up just to applaud Model Decoy on doing the opposite. The album is mixed well and the vocals aren't overpowered nor are the instruments muffled. Everything comes through clear and it really does have a big effect.
I'd also like to applaud Sadowitz because sometimes it seems like others are in competition with the vocalist trying to over power them. There isn't any of this present and can probably be due to their friendship. That's not to say Sadowitz doesn't get his moments to shine, and trust me, he shines. At around two minutes in the song Hearts in Atlantis, there's a moment when you just have to say "damn, that was nice," and wish it had lasted just a little longer.
The vocals on the album are really cool just because there's some range shown. I found it really interesting that there were moments when they could be considered almost R&B. Of course there are your standard ballads but the big appeal is that Flake is just a good singer who can do a variety of sounds.
Lyrically I'd compare Model Decoy to, I Fight Dragons. I say that because both groups don't stray away from adding the occasional references to various nerd aspects of nerd culture. It's kind of awesome to hear songs inspired by Scott Pilgrim. Yet, Model Decoy doesn't just do songs inspired by nerd culture which helps make sure they don't come off as a novelty act. It's legitimately good music that touches on a variety of topics. It's music that is humanistic first and nerd second.
While I've talked a lot about the different styles Model Decoy brings to the table there's one really important thing that I've failed to mention. Model Decoy is consistent. What I mean by that is that is there aren't any songs where the performance seems phoned in and it seems they give everything they can on every track. Which is really cool because there are no moments where you're left disappointed or confused.
I don't have a track that I dislike, they're all really good in their own rights. I can't even pick a favorite track between "Oxytocin," "Ciao, Knives," and "Would Be King." "Oxytocin," is the opener and it's a really smooth track that pulls you in, even if there were no vocals it would just be a feel good track. Vocals only add to that. With "Ciao, Knives," it's the lyrics that pull me in. The track really just reminds me of all the people who said I couldn't do things. As crazy as it sounds it makes me laugh at them. Meanwhile, "Would Be King," is a much more aggressive sounding track. Of all the tracks it just kicks you in the mouth a little more than the others.
Model Decoy is an project you want to check out. Even if you've never been a fan of rock music you'll want to give this one a shot because it doesn't stick to that full throttle rock stereotype tha tis present in a lot of projects. You can hear Model Decoy streaming on SoundCloud and Band Camp. You can also follow them on Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, YouTube and ModelDecoy.com
Off topic: I'd just like to note that the Model Decoy social media game is on point. Every site has a different image of a duo made up of one black guy and one white guy. It's just so awesome to me and has nothing to do with anything.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD