Yojimbo – Ghost Birthdays

Yojimbo’s new record has almost a silly aura to it.

Singer Carly Myers emphasizes and exaggerates words and phrases in a young girl voice that can careen into a yell or shriek in a split second as she sings about how she loves her jeans or dreams about alligator eyes.

It almost could be a kids’ record if songs about gummy bears killing themselves could appear on albums for children.

There is a good mix here of funky, jazzy keyboards, new-wave flourishes and electronic pop sounds. Myers’ trombone playing uses effects and pedals to give it textures not usually found with trombones, and her playing is another confirmation (as Big Sam, Mark Mullins and Troy Andrews will tell you) that trombone is the rock ’n’ roll instrument of the 21st century.

However, beneath all the effects and contrasts, a positive, forward-looking attitude makes itself evident in the lyrics that celebrate birthdays for the dead, reflect on the relationship between craziness and happiness, and taking back one’s initiative from those who suck it away.

Some tunes can make the listener think of Primus and the soundtrack to Charlie Brown specials.

Most of the songs are short and punchy; they get in and they get out. What makes the album fun is the way that the band seems to go for broke in a very gonzo manner on “My Hero” and the aforementioned “Gummy Bear Suicide.”

Having spent the last several years backing up manic music master Mike Dillon, the band’s sound reflects Dillon’s energy and whiplash switching between sections.

It’s a wild mix of sound and ideas, but Yojimbo’s new record works because of that.