The Last Classed Blast

Seth Hebert, Dufus' main man, undoubtedly means very well. His liner note message to readers is a sweet, gentle reflection on the tension between someone unsure where best to place his future efforts and the response from fans who enjoy his music very much, and his list of friends and contributors could fill a small book. But The Last Classed Blast is something so of its early 21st century time that it's impossible to judge it outside of that time -- and ultimately is unique in a way that's going to be irritating to anyone not already convinced. While the artwork and songtitles ("Babylon.com" is, scarily enough, one of the better ones), not to mention the general whimsy/rock atmosphere, seek to stake the group somewhere in the Flaming Lips/Animal Collective/Arcade Fire lineage of Big Folky Meaningfulness, something about this band calls to mind unholy fusions of Rusted Root and Cake as well. It could be the air of extreme wackiness at points, the gabblegabblegabbleheeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy! style delivery whenever Hebert warms up fully (his dry, light tone is also a bit odd, almost like a goth band reciter in the spindly rather than the basso profundo way), the air of this being what the artier little brother of the Bonnaroo roadie listens to at points. That this may work for some is more than fine, but it's not going to work for everyone without either a lot of mescalin or a complete inability to shut down the speakers. Things initially are alternately jaunty or brisk or briskily jaunty or jauntily brisk, with occasional dramatics and slow tunes in an "oh, that's nice" vein taking the fore more towards the end. There are OK moments and for those who think this all sounds like the bee's knees, go for it -- but otherwise this is fairly easily skippable. ~ Ned Raggett|