Instant Money Magic

Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek are the two guys that make the band Japanther and don't let there only being 2 people in the band fool you into thinking that there won't be much to the music. Instant Money Magic is a good example of what the outcome from the effort of 2 guys playing music together can get you. That music is a style that is a chaotic ordered disorder of sounds being played on the guitar and drums as well as having other sound effects to help it out some. It's a wild bunch of songs that are on this album that was hard for me not to like and have fun listening to. Even though the band has been around since 2001 and this is my first time hearing them, I was hooked from the start of track 1 “Wiggmann”.

Now it might sound odd or contradictory for sounds to be a chaotic ordered disorder of sounds but that is the case with “Instant Money Magic”. These two guys don't have the most pitch perfect sound with the vocals, they don't quite sync up with each other at times, but they having created some very fun songs that cheered me up instantly. Not sure what is being said in some of the songs where it has someone talking but it fits perfectly in the songs. Especially the ones I do understand, it gives the songs a extra level of fun to the songs. It also catches my attention right from the start and then for the rest of the song it's everything else that keeps my attention. One such song is yet again the first track “Wiggmann” where it has someone talking about graffitti then the whine that picks up, the guitar, and all blending together where I was fully focused on listening to this song.

This whole album is that way, it just got my attention and kept it through the whole album. Being that there are 14 songs on this album and I listened to it three times in a row without once thinking I was ready to turn it off says a lot about this band. They might only be 2 guys in this group but they play like there more there than just them. There are different sounds being used in these songs, some don't make sense, but even with all the crazy different voice tracks and wacky sound being played the songs are good. I like how the vocals are real, they don't have the sound of someone trying to make their voice sound different or better, they are what they are and they are good. This whole album is a lot of fun to listen to as they play in this disorganized manner but make it sound like that's just how it's supposed to be. Japanther plays fun, high energized songs that keep a good upbeat tempo to all their songs. This is what punk music is to me, a band having some fun playing their music in a way that they want to play it while making it sound like this is just the way it's supposed to sound.