Jason Bieler And The Baron Von Bielski Orchestra - Postcards From The Asylum (2023)

I’m never very keen on wacky for wacky’s sake. That belongs to the kind of person who refers to themselves as “a bit random” when you first meet them. Then there’s the other sort of person: those who think differently. To that end, Jason Bieler describes himself as follows: “Writer, producer, raconteur, comedian, singer-songwriter, fashion icon, and renowned hand-model.”

OK, cool, we like him. Then I saw a tweet from him that said, “I’ll never retire, I’ll just say I’m going for milk and not come back.” And, you know, you’re just hoping the record is as good. Well… I’m here to tell you that “Postcards From The Asylum” is sensational.

“Bombay” veers from heavy to Honeycrack-like harmonies. “Numb” has a Wildhearts-like sonic palette, and praise from MV gets no higher. “Heathens” follows the anything-goes template, but my goodness, it’s catchy. “Mexico” swirls acoustically, explaining that ‘life crushes everyone.” Help is at hand though: “I’m gonna buy some drugs,” quite.

“Birds Of Prey” on one hand swirls around like some throwback from the ’60s; on the other hand, “they’ll eat our insides out.” That’s the knife-edge this works on.

“Flying Monkeys,” for example, goes into a Spock’s Beard-style prog, not surprisingly, seeing as Ryo Okumoto is on it (Guests in the orchestra as it were, include: Andee Blacksugar [Blondie, KMFDM, Peter Murphy], Marco Minnemann [The Aristocrats], Todd “Dammit” Kerns [Slash & The Conspirators, Toque], Edu Cominato [Geoff Tate, Soto], so look, he’s well respected.

“Sic Riff” is well-named, and if this is wacky, then it’s natural. Wherever it goes, the almost folk “The Depths,” it’s all awesome to work. “Sweet Eliza” is as sweet as it gets. “9981 Dark” sprawling, night sky, a world of possibilities. “Feels Just Like Love” lets its hair down for fun again. “Bear Sedatives” add an electronic pulse. “Deep Blue” is oddly prog but oddly works. “Human Head” is just odd.

But odd in a good way. “Postcards From The Asylum” is one of those trips where you do wish you were here.