It’s not a surprise that
Mini Mansions, the warped pop project of
Queens of the Stone Age bassist
Michael Shuman and friends
Zach Dawes and
Tyler Parkford, released their self-titled debut album on
QOTSA frontman
Josh Homme’s label Rekords Rekords (with a co-release assist from
Mike Patton’s imprint Ipecac Records). To a certain extent, the trio also keeps it in the family musically: the tension between their insistent melodies and bad attitude suggests a lighter version of
Homme and company’s more whimsical moments (particularly on the excellent “Monk”) and their vocals, at their brassiest, recall
Patton’s bravado. The band’s knack for hooks and harmonies puts them in the realm of power poppers like
Fountains of Wayne -- though
Shuman and friends are much, much less chipper -- and their fondness for molesting a singalong tune with plenty of aggression occasionally recalls
Nirvana. However, the single biggest influence on
Mini Mansions, and
Mini Mansions, is
John Lennon circa
The White Album. These songs are steeped in the same druggy whimsy that made “Glass Onion” and “I’m so Tired” at once snide and vulnerable: “Vignette #2” and “Girls” have the kind of winding melodies at which
Lennon and the rest of the Fab Four excelled, while “Wünderbars” is made all the more trippy by surreal wordplay like “bruised pornographic double hex.” Though
Mini Mansions still have the tendency to ramble like they did on their first EP, when they focus, they really focus. “Kiddie Hypnogogia” and “The Room Outside” juggle jaunty melodies and heavy codas but never sound scattered. Meanwhile, “Crime of the Season” and “Seven Sons,” with their horror show organs and prickly harpsichords, are more haunted house-pop than chamber pop. A funhouse mirror of an album,
Mini Mansions is a few shades lighter than Rekords Rekords’ usual output, but it’s still twisted and catchy enough to win over those more familiar with
Shuman's day job.