Inquiet Ye-Ye Bears by: Mark Simms Mon:09-Apr-07 Label: Brother Sister Year: 2006 WB rating 32 out of 100

Ye-Ye Bears is a mini album with a mere running time of 24 minutes. Usually such a short length would be disappointing, and in this case, it is. This is not because there is the desire to hear more, rather the majority of the album is wasted time I would like to get back.

The allure of music is that it can act as a reassurer, a stimulant, a tool of anger or jubilation. Ye-Ye Bears doesn’t suit any frame of mind – the only disposition fitting of this album is nervousness as to what will occur next. This spontaneity can at times stimulate; however, the majority of this randomness is simply noise, an immense wall of chaos, more irritating than anything else.

Why noise? Because the majority of tracks don’t feel like songs, just a mix of sounds thrown together at the eleventh-hour. Such a concoction is both puzzling and overwhelming – the level of concentration required to understand this music, too strenuous a task to be enjoyable. Experimentation and variety can be refreshing, enlightening, even mind blowing, but Ye-Ye Bears never reaches these qualities; never unifies –  unpredictable mashes of keyboard, drums, shakers and anything else at Sam Szoke-Burke’s disposal, collide and crash, ruining any chance of a decent melody.

What follows is a collection of tapping, drumming, and other strange samples, which sound as though they were created not by instruments, but household furniture, the kitchen bench, dinner table, and the prized collection of spoons. This inventiveness may entice for a short moment, but it soon becomes bothersome.

‘BEARS’, like other tracks, is a mix of sounds that verge on annoying, yet it eventually resolves to a listenable quality by the end. The melody of ‘BEARS’ is one of the few on the album to be uninterrupted by any random or unwanted noises. ‘Piano Sleeper’ is the standout track. Sam uses percussion and keyboard to create and sustain an appealing melody. Unfortunately this is a rare occurrence on Ye-Ye Bears.

For what reason has Sam Szoke-Burke, the only member of Inquiet, created this music? It’s hard to tell, but attracting listeners isn’t one of them – the tracks verge on the cacophony created by screaming children. Ye-Ye Bears sounds like Sam is trying to puzzle, confuse, and innovate, but never does this combination resolve in a successful outcome. Whenever an instrument, a vocal line, or the use of effects threatens to result in something catchy, it is counterattacked by the irreconcilable noise of another instrument that just so happens to show up and ruin it all. The journey to the album’s few moments of inspiration take far too long to develop and when they eventually hit it’s somewhat of an anti-climax.

Ye-Ye Bears can, at times, be diverse and inventive, but more often it is tedious and annoying. It’s an album that could be forgotten about straight after the experience, never managing a convincing argument as to why it should be remembered. Some may argue that this noise is sound art. But here’s the thing, art like this doesn’t necessarily make for good listening.