Jason Bonthron

A bassist and a vocalist, Jason Bonthron doesn’t display the limited field of vision that his Cyclops titled album may promote. In fact, with that single eye, he and his band of dedicated musician friends are seeing things in big, kaleidoscopic clarity. “Cyclops” awakens softly with the aptly named “AM Radio” pop ballad sung by songstress, Danielle Stauss, then after that it picks up and becomes a quick-thumping, bass-pumping monster that takes on different shapes and sizes.

Jason Bonthron’s work is typically compared to the likes of The Flaming Lips, Sonic youth and perhaps most appropriately, Joy Division. You can understand why especially as you listen to a very classical take on post-punk rock that harks back to the simplicity of two-step drum accompaniments, grungy basses and atmospheric synths and samples that are indicative of influences from the late 70s to early 80s.

But the post-punk label isn’t the tome which “Cyclops” worships: it is a basis that the album maintains intrinsically throughout but only enforces overtly intermittently between lashings of dark disco and even bossa nova. “Not Today” sounds like something whipped together from Daft Punk’s soundboards in that it has a recognisable synthpop lilt to it. Similarly, “Watch Out,” which is incongruously serenaded by Jason’s deep, treated vocals, has the kind of rhythm you’d expect from a samba jazz record.

Ultimately, “Cyclops” is even more eclectic than but not unexpectedly so given the array of instrumentation used in it. One thing is for sure – it’s vastly more funk, than archetypally melancholic. It even includes some highly experimental work particularly with “Liquid Metal Hydrogen” which is an instrumental loaded with sound effects and samples playing in incoherent formations that begin and end almost autonomously. Each instrument appears to have a mind of its own and again signals Bonthron’s unconventional approach that took two whole years to construct and perfect.