When describing an album, one might start with a familiar genre or reference point to help the uninitiated prepare for the experience. This approach isn’t possible with The Coconut Monkeyrocket’s only full album, With Birds.
With Birds is a one-off album by a band (or perhaps one person project) called The Coconut Monkeyrocket with very little online presence and pretty much zero backstory and damn little follow-up since its release. While I’d really love more music like this, it may be impossible to replicate. It may be that the band or artist nailed it on the first try and decided to just pack it up.
One comment on Bandcamp calls the album “uptempo cartoon funk.” I’ve also seen it connected with “loungecore” and it’s tagged with “electrokitsch” as a genre on Bandcamp. I think of it as the sound a Chuck Jones cartoon would make if it grew up and started a band.
It’s aggressively uptempo with driving funk undertones, loops, vocal samples, and a bombastic feel. Plenty of horn samples, upbeat rhythms, and goofy sounds. From the intro track “Juicy Jungle” to the closer, “Thank You” it’s an unpredictable ride. Hints of disco, polka, spoken word, 50s strings and horns, and electronic beats all co-mingle into an album that sounds effortless but is intricate and deeply weird. Whatever it is, genre-wise, it’s 100% earworm.
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It’s a great album to put on while you’re making dinner or doing some housework, or as a soundtrack to a party. It’s like candy for your ears.