Where does one begin? Well, in this case, I believe it’s best to begin by saying I’ve never heard a collection of songs like I’ve listened to on “Not My Monkeys” ever before. Each one is distinctly different from the others, yet is connected by the personalized original styling performed by BB Stevens. So, again, where do we begin? Let’s just begin at the beginning…
“GoodBiBaby” is an intentionally misspelled title that stacks extra layers of meaning upon itself once the lyrically sexy storyline unfurls. It’s an upbeat tune dealing with the uneasy suspicion that the special someone in your life who’s become your heart’s desire is not exactly all that meets the eye. Its twisty-turned plot unfolds like a winding road down a steep mountainside where what’s encountered around each bend is an unforeseen surprise. From driven drum beats to the wailing backing voices to an unexpected but not unwelcome introduction of red-hot licks of Spanish guitar in the bridge keeps you guessing where it’s going to go next.
Segueing into the realm of current ongoing affairs, “Lucifer’s Rain” (another titular play on words perhaps?) examines in news headline-like fashion the events that transpired on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. Mashing up Southern Rock slide guitar sounds with rhythmic a fast-paced Hip-Hop/Rap vocal presentation it lays out over each bar with metaphorically-precisioned details from that infamous day; a day that still rears its ugly head in what seems like a never-ending news cycle of past accusations, ongoing civil, and criminal trials. Demonic-ish gems of devilishly delivered gibberish that mimic satanic chants from early 1960s B-Grade, low-budget, black and white horror films, are unearthed in the breaks occurring between the various verse/chorus segments.
“Spirit Be Gone” is the most pop-worthy sounding song of this set. Again, the melodramatically heavy air of a 1960s B-Grade, low-budget, black and white horror film, prevails in this haunting tale about a reappearing ghost of love lost. Combining a creepy crypt-like opening introduction that features an eerie pipe organ with specter induced sounds of wind chimes rung by some unseen hand of an ethereal aspiration it leads into BB Stevens’ raspy voice, a voice that sounds like the well phrased lyrics are emanating from a desecrated tomb and graveyard dirt filled throat, lends a very haunting effect to this tune. What’s truly a first in this popish piece and undeniably unique within the arrangement is what sounds like a priest performing an exorcism in Church Latin.
A blues-inflected number is next. Cast as an ode to mental depression, “Mercy, Mercy” explores the sensation of tumbling down a moody rabbit hole that many may experience as the result of a bipolar disorder. It’s a well-worded and fiercely performed composition about the lifting, then the dashing, of all of one’s hopes and dreams. Once more the production’s instrumentation, arrangement, especially the gospel music style vocal choir, nicely supplements BB Stevens’ recorded performance.
Wrapping up the “Not My Monkeys” compilation is “Hard, Hard Place”. In this Prozac Nation day and age, it’s no longer unusual to know someone who struggling with the uneasy ordeal of off-and-on mood-altering medications. The track addresses the dilemmas presented by the prolonged use of prescribed pharmaceuticals over time upon its medicated users. A dilemma that’s often described by those who are being dosed as a series of one-step-forward-two-steps back, druggy pas-de-duex progression process.
To surmise, “Not My Monkeys” stands out in its strong singular sense of individuality. BB Stevens marches to the beat of a different drummer with words and music that are nothing short of thought-provoking.
