Just who is Theodore Thump? A wise pet rabbit? The mysterious sixth Beach Boy? This album newly released from Shedric, Swindon soloist and groovist of Thud, reveals nothing, but makes for a diverse and interesting listen….
The Misadventures of Theodore Thump was unwittingly released unto the cosmos earlier this month, and through title and cover art you might preconceive some psychedelic surreal nonsensical comedy akin to the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and in a way there’s sombre and subtle nods to this direction, but there’s more than meets the eye to this masterwork of audio art.
With wailing guitar it opens unexpectedly, plodding cosmic blues fashion. This swaps to a drifting jazzy folk with smooth Nick Drake styled vocals for the second song, and back to cosmic wah-wah for the intro and chorus for the third, while it settles for a jazz piano core. Still, fusions know no bounds here. Immediately I’ve the notion that this melting pot isn’t by chance, and the experimentation is purposeful, played out by a genius of many influences and with the ability to cherry-pick and compose them in such a way you are on the edge of your seat, captivated, intrigued, and thoroughly entertained.
It may all have been done before, but unlike this. Four tunes into this seven track marvel, Rosalie is a two-minute ethereal drumbeat and piano instrumental. Drifting lounge style, Scum is contradictory from subject to sound, whereas Lock & Key drives melodically classic RnB, Robert Palmer, and is likely the most commercially viable on this most excellent album. There’s a finale, wonderfully written of feelgood sentiment.
Shedric said, “The Misadventures of Theodore Thump has taken me an insane amount of time to make. The levels of procrastination have been almost as epic as the hours spent at my kitchen table mixing and tweaking.” The dedication and effort shows. It has the experimental quality of Sgt Pepper or Pet Sounds, the coolness of Bookends, its jazzy elements range from Blue Note to prototypical Mark’s Keyboard Repair. At times it’s blues, at others it’s folk, but it always leaves you guessing, and certainly is one to dive into, discovering more intricate details you might have previously missed before; marvellous!
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