Mongrel (The Number Twelve Looks Like You album) explained

Mongrel
Type:studio
Artist:The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Border:yes
Released:June 19, 2007
Genre:Mathcore
Length:37:28
Label:Eyeball
Producer:Casey Bates
Prev Title:The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Prev Year:2007
Next Title:Here at the End of All Things
Next Year:2008

Mongrel is the third album by American mathcore band The Number Twelve Looks Like You. Recorded in Seattle over a four-month period, it is the follow-up to 2005's Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear.. In its opening week, it reached a peak position of 19 on the Top Heatseeker, and 34 on top Independent Albums Billboard Charts.[1] On April 12, 2015 the album was re-released on limited edition, hand numbered cassettes.

Sound and style

Singer Jesse Korman, describing the album, has stated:

"We don't want to sound like anybody else. We stepped it up to the point where we've killed everything we've ever done previously, while a lot of bands that started out heavier have seemed to be going more melodic and easier on crowds — at least that's the trend. It seems to be the path a lot of these heavy bands are going these days, and we didn't want our fans to be like, 'Oh no, it's all just going to be melodic.' We wanted to make sure we really kicked some ass [on ''Mongrel'']. I don't know where we fit in, genre-wise, but this record's definitely something you've never heard before. On top of being incredibly heavy, there's stuff in there that's just the catchiest stuff I've heard in so long."

In a lead-up to the album's release a number of cryptic postings concerning the album were found on the internet by fans of the band. These included a video clip featuring a snippet of "Sleeping With The Fishes, See?" and three websites, displaying lyrics to "Grandfather" and "Sleeping With The Fishes, See?" as well as album artwork.[2]

Album name

According to Jesse Korman, in an interview with MTV, "the whole theme behind the album is mongrel...you can't really define what a 'mongrel' is — it's just a crazy mutt — and all of our songs are just all over the place. We wanted this album to be just complete chaos, with no direction at all."[3] Korman further states that "While there's no thematic link between the Mongrel and the LP artwork...the cover features a humanoid creature that suffers from schizophrenia and [this creature] embodies the unruliness of the music."[3]

Track listing

All music by Alexis Pareja and Jon Karel. All lyrics by Justin Pedrick and Jesse Korman, except where noted.[4]

Personnel

The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Production

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Number Twelve Looks Like You. Billboard.com. 5 July 2007. 29 December 2021.
  2. Web site: Photographic image of album sleeve. JPG. Ec1.images-amazon.com. 29 December 2021.
  3. Web site: Metal File: Number Twelve Looks Like You, Into Eternity & More News That Rules. https://web.archive.org/web/20200812160942/http://www.mtv.com/news/1557642/metal-file-number-twelve-looks-like-you-into-eternity-more-news-that-rules/. dead. August 12, 2020. Mtv.com. 29 December 2021.
  4. Web site: The Number Twelve Looks Like You – Mongrel (2007, CD). 29 December 2021. Discogs.com.