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Bad Time Zoo - Sims

Posted at 5:16 PM on March 28, 2011 by The Current
Filed under: CD Reviews, CD of the Week

A friend recently said something to the effect of: "2009 was a great year for P.O.S. Dessa ruled 2010. Look out 2011, here comes Sims!" ...and Sims is off to an incredible start with the recent release of Bad Time Zoo.

Allow me to make a prediction: Bad Time Zoo will be a big part of your summer soundtrack! You're going to hear the songs from Bad Time Zoo spilling out of car windows as they cruise down the road, from CD players and boomboxes in the parks and alleyways—and you can bet I'll be singing them as I'm walking through the grocery store. While we're waiting for those summer days to get here, though, we can start familiarizing ourselves with the tunes now, and perhaps it will make time go faster.

As you listen to Bad Time Zoo, notice the intricacies and the diversity of the musical layers. One second you may feel as if you're listening to the difficult harmonies of a Bulgarian choir over the frenzied percussion of a tribal drum circle. Then there'll be a lyrical nod to Grandmaster Flash, a reggae beat to ring in an ode to love that isn't "some big depressing mess," a screeching guitar lick that would make Eddie Van Halen proud, bridging the gap between metal and hip-hop. Bad Time Zoo literally has something for everyone.

There's nothing more appealing than a well-written record that was written by a well-read artist. After spending a few weeks with Bad Time Zoo and hearing numerous references to "The Veldt" I felt compelled to do some digging for the meaning of "The Veldt" and what I discovered was a 60-year-old Ray Bradbury short story. It's almost as if the story has waited all these decades for Bad Time Zoo, the perfect companion piece, to be written. Both Bradbury's story and this CD share some dark, nearly-apocalyptic overtones and commentary that draw you in. In a time when it's never been so easy to numb ourselves with outside stimuli—such as chemical addiction, a drive for status or becoming lost in the digital realm—we've become disconnected as a society. Sims is here to remind us of what's truly important. And in the end Sims' view is the more positive of the two. At least in Bad Time Zoo you have the opportunity to fix what's wrong with the way you live your life and move forward. Wake up! Money is not the answer! Connect with people, again. Do good things.

In my opinion, Bad Time Zoo is the story of a talented artist trying to spread a message of hope and thanks to the numerous local references (such as "the state where it rains purple," Loring Park and Peace Coffee) we can always claim him as one of our own and take pride in that as he spreads that message in the days to come.

These are my favorite tracks: "Future Shock", "Burn It Down", "In My Sleep", "Too Much", "The Veldt" and the hidden track "Staring Down The Ocean."

Barb Abney, Host

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Master Archive

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