Nevermen

With each layer adding something to the stew when time on their own endeavors allowed, Nevermen is a successful and forward-thinking act of sonic maximalism. [No. 128, p.52]

Like Patton's day job, Nevermen succeed in making the world a much weirder and interesting place. [13 Feb 2016, p.54]

It's a cavalcade, certainly, but a thrilling one which feels like the proper realisation of Adebimpe, Drucker and Patton's quixotic talents combined.

The results are a timeless, genre-smashing work with a psychedelic soul.

Delightfully chewy collaboration. [Feb 2016, p.90]

The end result is an album that feels like a group of experienced musicians experimenting and amusing themselves without sacrificing a core thread of melody.

The trio trade lines like they’re flashing secret handshakes to each other--it’s a complex process, fingers flying and interlocking, each gesture laden with meanings that an outsider can’t even fathom.

Although largely a strong body of work, the album’s borderline moments of geniune greatness--'Hate On', 'Dark Ear' and 'Mr. Mistake', the latter of which is surely the most sonically soothing track to reference a nuclear winter--aren’t replicated with any real consistency.

Certain stretches of the album, such as "Hate On," could have benefitted from one or two less layers of sonic abstraction and a bit more breathing room. But the interlocking harmonies, call-and-response lead turns and unexpected acoustic riffs of "Mr Mistake" show that these weirdos can do pop on their own terms whenever they want to.

The trio coheres remarkably well, and the blizzard of ideas works like regular blasts of fresh oxygen or caffeine. Or both. [Jan/Feb 2016, p.58]

A little more focus in that department [including everyone's vocals in each song] would have gone a long way toward giving some ballast to this soupy, stormy effort. [Feb 2016, p.102]

In large part, the songs on Nevermen come across exactly as that: songs, specifically made in a studio by a group of individually talented musicians.

"Tough Towns," which salutes cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, similarly lapses into ambient space for an extended time period, and closing track "Fame II: The Wreckoning" is nearly still for five minutes before its splashing, hopeful finale. Other than these more reflective moments, the album is generally pretty exhilarating, particularly on vicious avant-rap tracks like "At Your Service."

The album does have its moodier moments, Hate on--easily the best track on the album--features a strong meditative groove, oddball sax, razor-sharp guitar chords and luscious harmonies. Along with the final track, it hints at a depth that is sadly not fully explored. Nevertheless, this album is a lot of fun.

The album's best songs ("Tough Towns," "Fame II the Wreckoning," "Treat Em Right") temper the stream-of-consciousness and ramp up the atmosphere instead. When they resist the urge to troll (tell me a sardonic chorus that goes "Just like a tactical maniac/ I WANNA SHOOT YOUU" isn't trolling), Nevermen possess a deadly grace befitting Doseone's beloved hydra metaphor; for now, those necks are tangled.

An album remarkable only for just how bland it gets, despite every effort to the contrary. [Feb 2016, p.60]

A reliance on rabbity non-sequiters, plus a tendency to change genres every 11 seconds, makes the point of it all rather hard to grasp. [Mar 2016, p.77]