Sputnik Monroe, Wake the Sleeping Giant

Sputnik Monroe, the man, was a pro wrestler who used his popularity to integrate the city of Memphis. Sputnik Monroe, the band, on the other hand, has just released Wake the Sleeping Giant, their new album of “experimental indie/alt-rock.” While it is impressive that they’ve managed to use four different terms to describe themselves, they would’ve been better served by sticking to one or two. In their bio, they say they take cues from Mars Volta, Muse, and Radiohead, but while name-dropping those groups is fine, for the first couple of tracks the band sounds more like Incubus.

“EEE Funk” replicates the pseudo-progressive rock of Mars Volta, it’s true, but with more of a pop sensibility. Sputnik Monroe does seem to emulate Muse, but the band members cannot replicate Muse’s ability to play different genres. “Tokyo Sky Surprise” is the band’s best attempt at Brit-pop — the track’s very successful at creating energy and feels like it came all the way from Britain. It would be a mistake to say that it’s just a simple pop song, though, since that would be ignoring the uniqueness of the track and the way it morphs into almost a different song towards the end of the track. Radiohead may have been an influence, but Sputnik comes nowhere near the experimental instrumentalization of Thom Yorke and the boys. The moody pieces sound more like ISIS, and while that’s not a bad thing, it comes off as a copy.

The band needs to streamline their vision some; it’s like the old saying: pick a hole. Wake the Sleeping Giant isn’t a bad album, but it’s not remarkably good either. Sputnik Monroe is like a trip to the mall: nothing really happened, but at least you got out of the house.