The Album

Album cover designed by Miranda Roper.

Hello and happy Saturday! Today we are going to take a look at Advanced Defence Mechanisms by Mimbulus Mimbletonia. There are ten tracks on this album, but the tenth song is only available for those who purchase the hard copy of the album, so I will be reviewing the first nine. This album was released on September 4, 2011, so let’s jump back in time and get into it!

The Tracks

My Love Is Made Of Euphemisms is pretty much exactly what you would expect to hear from the title. Packed full of euphemisms, it is a sweet sounding song that has a single voice and nice guitar.

The band’s plant introduces itself in the second song, I Am. It is a short and informational song about the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. The end of the song is funny and abrupt. I love an abrupt ending.

The music to Curtain Awareness is ethereal and has overlapping voices. It is an interesting song with a neat premise. I absolutely love the title, and the mentions of the dangers of curtains throughout the song.

There’s A Face (In The Back Of My Head), Part One has a wonderful melody and hilarious lyrics. It details Quirrell’s decision to go exploring and ultimately running into Voldemort. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.

The next song, Ghost, starts with a softer and more serious sound. It’s beautifully haunting (pun intended). The lyrics tell about what it is like to be in love with a ghost, and although the topic could easily turn very sad very fast, it is a lighthearted and fun song.

Another love song comes on the tail of the last one, and this one is entitled I’ll Love You Good. This is a pretty piece all about our lovely Luna Lovegood. The instrumentals fill up the soundscape and provide a wonderful backdrop for the main vocal line.

The Battle of Hogwarts begins with a quieter guitar solo. This is a serious and sadder song, outlining the horrors that happened at Hogwarts. (How’s that sentence for alliteration?) There was a great and terrible loss of life during the famous battle of Hogwarts, and this song is a great demonstration of how awful it was. The harmonies are beautifully done and really lend themselves to the overall tone of the song.

I really love Thoughts. It has a nice mellow tone and a great strumming pattern. The lyrics are so funny, while the singer asks the author some interesting questions.

I Don’t Belong Here is a parody of Creep by Radiohead. As a long time fan of the original song, I was really excited to hear the opening chords and know that this was going to be a wrock parody. I thought it worked really well.

The final song is called Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want, and is only available for folks who purchase the physical CD.

In Summary

The range of styles and topics in this album made me smile. I very much enjoyed listening to all of the different takes and thoughts on the series from the singer, as well as the amazing instrumentals, harmonies, and main voice. This plant knows how to wrock!