Local Reviews: Joseph (The Voluptuary) Smith

Joseph (The Voluptuary) Smith
Endowed
Purple Ink
Street: 03.10
Joseph (The Voluptuary) Smith = Nine Inch Nails + Massive Attack + Black Moth Super Rainbow
The most striking thing about this record, straight off the bat, is that the all-black plastic CD case has a small castle (temple?) adorned with a sparkly mushroom placed on the middle of the cover—that’s three-dimensionally, sticking out about three inches! I’ve never seen packaging like this and was very curious about the contents inside.  I was initially a little skeptical of what I found, but it grew on me with repeated listens.  Endowed is a fuzzed out, droning, psychedelic little record. There are moments of produced beat over heavy bass, others that are more down tempo, and many high-pitched vocal melodies with occasional dashes of wah-wah guitar.  This is like dark New Wave filtered through a Utah-shaped distortion pedal.  The many off-kilter references to Utah, Zion, and even the artist’s name incorporating the prophet, are all pretty funny.  The strongest moments include the heavy guitar riff on “Dave Likes Cherry Pie” and the vocal fun of “She Does Everybody.”  Check out this distinctive work by a local artist