Powers of the Monk turned 2nd Century poetry into a meta alt-indie folk vignette with Bread & Circuses –

Instead of attempting to un-placate the masses by putting a new spin on 2nd Century Roman poetry, Michigan’s Powers of the Monk used the proverb with Bread & Circuses to shine a cerebral light on the absurdity of modern America through a meta vignette that feels like a sly wink at chaos itself. It’s the kind of concept that makes you wonder why Nobel prizes aren’t handed out to orchestrators of alt indie folk.

Everything about the production leaves you tingling in the same way as ASMR audio; the ethereal vocals become mellifluous spectres within the arrangement, which somehow turns old school honkytonk folk into an avant-garde serenade of semi-lucid scintillation. Even if you met Wayne Coyne in a carnivalesque baroque fever dream and asked him to sing you a song in soprano, it wouldn’t come close to the haunting ingenuity of Powers of the Monk.

Based in the Pontiac-Detroit-Ann Arbor area, Powers of the Monk reformed in 2020 with David S. Monk (vocals, guitars, keyboards) and CasSondra “Pontiac” Powers (vocals, violin, bass guitar, keyboards). John O’Reilly Jr. adds guest drums on this release, which was produced by Powers of the Monk themselves, mixed by Bryan Cook in Los Angeles, and mastered by Brian Callhoun in Nashville.

The song itself circles around an institutionalised patient with multiple personalities who escapes, burns down a circus and watches the escaped lions chase down the clowns and eat them, before seeing babies launched into space in bubbles. Just another day in America.

Bread & Circuses is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast