The Gospel According to the Mattoid

After a few years entertaining the city’s barflies, The Mattoid’s outsider pop has become less and less outside. As the alter-ego of Helsinki-born Ville Kiviniemi, both the comedic and musical components of The Mattoid’s performances landed him opening slots for both comedian Doug Stanhope and singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston in the past year. This year, The Mattoid has joined the Infinity Cat roster (Be Your Own Pet, JEFF, Cake Bake Betty) to release his latest, The Glory Holy.

The record opens with a few seconds of backwards playback, which essentially demonstrates that Kiviniemi’s self-described “sango” guitar sounds the same played in either direction. Therein lies the crux of most Mattoid releases—the template allows for very little variation, placing a heavy weight on the shoulders of his sidemen and women. Backed by members of Silver Jews, Clem Snide, Lambchop and Bobby Bare Jr.’s Young Criminals Starvation League, The Glory Holy is seemingly in capable hands.

After shifting out of reverse, the record opens with the endearing “I’m Gonna,” which goofily details Kiviniemi’s ambitions and describes how he’s going to “climb up the mountains” and “reach all those shining stars.” But what’s immediately apparent is that The Mattoid’s ambitions are a bit different this time around. “I’m Gonna” is fairly mild-mannered compared to the hilariously rabble-rousing openers on past Mattoid discs, and The Glory Holy plays a full seven songs before hearing Kiviniemi’s trademark “right on, baby.” The “huh”s that colored past records are noticeably absent this time around as well. The second track, “Melonkholic,” kicks things up a notch, proclaiming with a driving two-chord stomper before taking the plunge into the mid- to low-tempo tunes that comprise the bulk of the disc. The Glory Holy is not the Mattoid party you remembered.

The majority of the album’s tracks lean on Kiviniemi’s half-whispered delivery, focusing largely on death and/or absurdity, but either The Mattoid has gotten less quirky or we’ve become far too acclimated. The production on “Melonkholic,” the end of “Mrs. Fisherman” and “Easy Livin’ ”—a humorous take on Nashville honky-tonks—spotlights the backing band and harkens back to The Mattoid’s strongest record to date, 2005’s Eternifinity EP.

Three tracks from last year’s Grand Palace-released Glory Holy EP reappear on this full-length. “Suicide” is a solid track exhibiting The Mattoid’s knack for big choruses, whether they’re real words or crammed with dos, das, oohs or las. “Hey Dude” is a hilarious remake of the classic “Hey Joe” that reimagines Joe as an Eskimo who’s carrying around a harpoon ’cause he caught his woman rubbing noses with another man.

But the weaknesses of the third reissued track, “Breaking Wind,” permeate The Glory Holy. The slow, meandering tracks that compose the middle of the album are decidedly middle-of-the-road for The Mattoid. The Glory Holy full-length will offend few, while The Glory Holy EP’s strongest tracks (e.g., “Burn and Rob” and “Cocksuckers”) were outrageously crass. What made those tracks stand out, cemented Hello’s “Party Time” (an irreverent declaration of good times) as a local classic, and elevated Eternifinity was a complete lack of regard in terms of convention and pretty much anything else. This time around, The Mattoid seems to be giving too much of a shit. Few will be caught off guard or pissed off at The Glory Holy, and that’s a pity.