Because the album spans across a period of three years and has everything from the lo-fi folk music of songs like "Chamber" or opening track "But love," you would expect most of Collection of works to be a scattershot endeavor - surprisingly, this isn't really the case. While the genres definitely bounce around from one moment to another, it's fairly safe to say that they all come from the same mind. The acoustic tracks generally share a lot of similar ideas and guitar working, and even in a completely instrumental form they still manage to remain compelling (even if I do think some drums wouldn't hurt on moments like "But love," for instance). Fart Lunge has been toying with tracks like these since "Chamber" released as a single last year, though, so it's safe to say that his experience has been shown. The shorter acoustic numbers like "A Little Bit o Glitter got on my cookie" or "Verde" are probably amongst the best songs on the album, though, and showcase some real potential if these ideas continued on future projects. Other recorded moments like the mysterious "March 20" were fascinating listens, too - nothing but the sound of a crawling bass and outside ambience, and a moment like "2022_12_12_23_25" is pretty much just the first album's "O" done right.
In between a lot of acoustic moments is some more electronic tracks, many of which are just sharper ideas of what was presented on SCALD. The unrelenting beat and synths of "untitled" feels like an improvement upon the first album's "Kronkite," which was already one of the stronger moments from the debut - if only it was longer. Moments like "2 Float" have an ambient leaning to them that wasn't often seen on the first Fart Lunge album outside of select moments. Other songs have an energetic aggression like the song "It DOESN't" that was teased before the album's release or the punching finale track of "AmirMe," which probably stands as Fart Lunge's best electronic track to date. Perhaps the album's only weak moment is a series of three tracks that lasts from "faert jazz" to "take 1," although to call all of these tracks weak is a bit of an overstatement, as "take 1" has something with the aggressive guitar riff. These songs really showcase the out-there humor of Fart Lunge, with "faert jazz" being filled with dissonant screaming, assorted instruments that very often have little do with one another, and bizarre "lyrics" that are seemingly only present in the left channel - a once in a lifetime listening experience.
For being as flat-out bizarre and scattershot as Collection of works is, it's amazing that it all works as well as it does. Pretty much everything that Fart Lunge tried on their debut record is expanded upon here, but done far better and with more sounds and genres for them to toy with. The end result is an improvement on the debut album in just about every single way - even the non-sequitur musical moments sound better. While SCALD had its moments, Collection of works showcases a real will to try new things while also improving on what worked in the first place. When it's said and done, Collection of works and items is a pretty alright album.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Collection of works and items from 2020 to 2023.
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