Canary in the Mines

It's a well-known fact that bands thrive on their image. It seems that regardless of their product, if musicians have the right image they can sell anything to adoring fans.

Explaining this truth isn't meant to be used as a tool to rail against dirty record executives. Instead, it reveals something about indie rock band Menomena, a group of musicians whose newest album Mines once again proves them both immensely talented and oddly forgettable.

At times it can be hard to describe the importance of image, but for Menomena — which consists of Portland, Ore. multi-instrumentalists Brent Knopf, Justin Harris and Danny Seim — image can be hard to discern at all.

For instance, few are going to say that the Ramones are a terrible band. But in reality, they were a terrible band: They knew three chords, played one tempo and sang few lyrics. Aside from the band's startling image — drunken, leather jacket-wearing bastards who lived on the edge — the Ramones weren't great musicians.

This is where Menomena comes in. The band is just a group of ordinary guys with a not-so-apparent flannel affinity. Their individual and group musicianship is relatively astounding, as they can pull off so many divergent multi-timbre and polyrhythmic movements with only three members, both live and in-studio.

So what Menomena lacks is the gritty soul of a raucous group like the Ramones or the more mysterious composure of a talented group like Grizzly Bear.

Instead it's just a band with no image and no punctuation. Sure, Menomena can craft some intense, crushing crescendos, such as on "TAOS," a track trapped somewhere between the music of the late Beatles and heavy southern rock duo The Black Keys.

The drums on "TAOS" build up again and again around the vocals of Knopf, leading to a few different enticing climaxes. Interesting as it is, the song never really comes together as a thoughtful whole, because it never makes the listener feel like they are part of something bigger.

Problems persist in different ways throughout the album. It seems that no matter how complex Menomena crafts a composition, it never comes together as anything overtly memorable.

Menomena has been toying with the same somewhat dull and depressed mood on the majority of its songs over all of its albums. The generally dark mood is certainly a signature of the band's sound but it leaves little room on their part for truly memorable hooks and movements.

Instead, as further proof of the band's image problem, tracks are remembered more for the use of certain instruments, sounds or samples.

Take "Tithe," which opens with a minute and a half of multi-layered glockenspiel rambling before evolving into a mid-tempo indie rock jam that never really goes anywhere the band hasn't been 10 times before.

Still, "Tithe" is easily remembered as a song with heavy use of rounded glockenspiel strokes. Listeners won't be able to hum it and they won't care enough to know the lyrics, so the song's signifying feature becomes its melodic percussion.

Such missteps continue in earnest on later tracks. "Sleeping Beauty" is drawn along by harmonized, subdued cooing over a bubbling synthesizer and scattered percussion that erupts violently at the song's climax.

Yet again, Menomena creates a somewhat delightful and probably misunderstood audible treat that leaves nothing for audiences to return to.

Closing track "INTIL," led by pizzicato string plucks, again falls under the band's banner of consistently depressing soundgasms. No surprise, the track features the same emotion presented with new sounds, still leaving little to be desired.

Regardless of the missteps, the band does rock out on many occasions, including "BOTE," a White Stripes and old-school Modest Mouse rip-off that does just enough to stay afloat on its own.

Standout track "Killemall" swirls with piano flourishes, minor key guitar noodles and volatile drums all held together by the band's combined vocal prowess. Still falling under the same emotional stereotype of the rest of the band's catalogue, "Killemall" is an explanation of just how good Menomena can be.

As fabulous a set of musicians as Menomena is, they can't beat the stigma of not having an image. If gossip news reporters TMZ have taught America anything, it's that it is human nature to judge people by who they are and not by what they can create.

For Menomena, Mines seems destined to be just another album in a long, often lukewarm career. Perhaps one day Menomena's considerable ability will be enough to drag in great audiences. But until then, the band's vaguely interesting offerings will have to do with what listeners they can muster.

RATING: 3.5 stars out of 5

diversions@umdbk.com