A.Human - Third Hand Prophecy
(Wall of Sound)
http://www.theahuman.co.uk/

A.Human (which may stand for Average Human) are anything but. Their lush blend of electronica and rock leads them to an fantastic area where few bands have yet to venture. As such, A.Human are able to generate whatever sounds pleasing, and their music is just that.

Third Hand Prophecy is nothing short of outstanding. A look at the album’s cover art offers the typical, eclectic artwork that graces every indie band release and creates instant assumptions in a listener. Pictures featuring hands with blades in place of fingers and people with animal’s heads may be off-putting for some and leave other questioning why it’s there in the first place, but these are no random doodles. A.Human’s songs include characters such as Deer Boy and the track Percy Singer is an auto-ballad of sorts about a twisted, yet endearingly polite, bandit.

The lyrics are dark, demented, and absolutely delightful. The Fraudulent Truths Of An Office Worker speaks on the ills of mundane labour (quite literally in this case as the individual gets a little more than he expected after liaison with a co-worker), certainly inspired by the band’s previous experience as waiters, and Come Death And Welcome is the tale of a man, perhaps the same one from before, spiralling down after an episode with insomnia and sleeping pills until he is eventually mad and homeless. While excellent displays of lyricism, the best line comes in Post Post Modern Anxiety Blues. Commenting on the state of society in general at present, the song offers a look at a man so full of terror paranoia that he avoids public transportation going as far as “walking three hours a days from E2 to E10.”

But you can dance to it too. The music is a combination of rumbling analogue bass, shifting synths, and a definite rock & roll tinge. Black Moon screeches while the wailing vocals implore the body to move and shake, and the interpretation of band America’s Horse With No Name is praiseworthy. What the Third Hand Prophecy actually is may not be as clear, but A.Human’s album, along with its bonus track which may also be titled Average Human, is only proof that they are far beyond that.

Coren J. Cogdell