Cassette Review // I Know I'm An Alien "Wi-Fi Breath" (Bumpy)

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Edition of 100 // 

https://iknowimanalien.bandcamp.com/album/wi-fi-breath //

When I first heard I Know I'm An Alien on the cassette "Do You Work Here?" I knew it was something special.   Well, I Know I'm An Alien is back with a cassette now called "Wi-Fi Breath" and if you've ever wondered how someone could have breath which is that of wi-fi, well, sit back, strap yourself and prepare for this wild ride.   It begins with a short track of just carnival sounding music which then takes us to the titular track.   Many of the songs have titles which appear in the lyrics and so just by looking over those titles you can kind of tell what the song might be about.

With robotic vocals at times this can sound like They Might Be Giants.   Is there really a comparison for this particular brand of rock music which at times is also punk but overall what people would just describe as "weird" or "experimental"?   As we get into a song such as "Robot of Cash", which is one of the longer songs on this cassette, and then into "Touchy Robot", we just dive into this place of distorted guitar riffs and slowed down vocals.    It adds something extra to that idea of thinking you've figured out the sound of I Think I'm An Alien.  

I Know I'm An Alien tells it right to the point on "Those Boots Are So Ugly".   I was once somewhere public and I heard two people have a conversation about how they hate Crocs and the older gentleman of the two said something like "Everyone who wears Crocs should die" and I just thought that was a bit extreme.  I was also waiting for someone wearing Crocs to show up.  But, you know, at the end of the day it's just footwear-- it's not that serious.   Then again, why do you wear those boots?

"Software Bacon" is one of the only songs on here I do not understand.  Is this some kind of new hip lingo the kids are using?  I'm an old school programmer and I've never heard this before.   "Rent Star" is about someone who pays their rent on time and makes their landlord happy.   There are so many people out there who struggle to pay rent I can never understand why it is so expensive.  Bills are always like a couple hundred dollars and then you get to rent and it takes that jump from $200 to like $2000 for some people.   It's almost like in some way too they don't want you to live, like they've stacked the deck against you from the start.

Into a song now which has electronic almost alarm-like loops beeping through some static.   This has both a combined sense of relaxation and urgency.    "I Love My Phone" is a song which is about what it says and I think people put too much stock into their phones- especially those who have to go out and buy the brand new model as soon as it comes out- but at the same time, my phone is important because I can do most anything with it.   It's strange how a device once used to talk to other people has become such an important tool in our lives now.  

On the flip side we start off with "Baby Avocado", which sounds like it could be the theme song to a Saturday morning cartoon.  I often think about things like why is it that I went through most of my life not really thinking about avocados and now they're everywhere.  I love avocados, don't get me wrong, I guess I'm just mad I wasn't eating them as a kid like I do now.   "Leprechaun Lucifer" is almost a chant, which somewhat scares me.   

While I'm not as sure what's going on lyrically, the song "Love Napkin" has a cool, fuzzy guitar solo leading it.    This is the longest song on the cassette and it just drifts off in a psychedelic way.  Being a longer song, this again shows that range in the style of I Know I'm An Alien and just makes me rethink what I think they sound like in terms of influences and comparisons.    We also get a one minute interlude called "Redundant Chair" before hitting up the "Download Club".   It's kind of funny but I got a car a few years ago and thought that I'd be able to finally listen to my CDs and it didn't come with a CD player so I have to do everything digitally.   This has made me feel like growing my Bandcamp collection is a good thing because I never know what I want to listen to when driving.

"BB Gun" sounds a little bit like Belle & Sebastian but it also has car horns in it.  The guitars become a little bit twisty, giving off that psych-driving vibe.   The way that "You Don't Have To Be Afraid" starts with a spoken intro makes me feel like it is a song from "Yo Gabba Gabba".   This takes us into "Box of Pay As You Go", which starts off sounding like "Jaws".   As it ends you can still hear the beach if you listen closely enough and I think feeling like we've gone out to sea is a fitting ending to this cassette based mostly on land.