DELICIOUS MONSTERS follow up their debut full-length cassette on Tetryon Tapes with what sadly ended up being their final release. A last gasp in the form of a five-song tape staying true to the form we’ve come to expect. Milwaukee, WI upbeat post-punk loaded with a heavy dose of zany, art-punk eccentricity. While that dose could well be too strong for some, beneath the bedlam are genuinely catchy songs filled with sharp little guitar parts, off-kilter rhythms, and oddball lyrics, all delivered by a band that understood how to keep things fun without falling into joke band territory.

While, in my mind, DELICIOUS MONSTERS were always strongest as a live entity, the songs on this cassette do a fair job of capturing at least some of the band’s unhinged charm. Going out on a high note, these final five songs may very well be the strongest material released during the band’s short two and a half year run.

Ending both the cassette and the band itself with a version of “Rocket Man,” inspired by and somehow even stranger than the unflappable Captain Kirk’s take, is a wild final choice that had me laughing and oddly a little sad as it came to an end.

Label: self-released

Band: DELICIOUS MONSTERS