Mad, 'Mad' 

click to enlarge

• Courtesy
• Mad, Mad

(Self-released, digital)

There's been an understandable dearth of fun in contemporary music in the past decade or so. The world ain't doing so great, and its sickness is reflected in the zeitgeist. Hell, Burlington's Waterfront Park just hosted a string of huge, big-selling concerts last week featuring the Backseat Lovers, Gregory Alan Isakov and Noah Kahan — all tear-jerkers.

To stumble on unabashedly weird, risky and silly music is becoming a rare and refreshing experience. There just aren't a lot of people following in the footsteps of They Might Be Giants, Adam Ant or Nina Hagen. But Burlington four-piece Mad are the antidote to the blue streak cutting through the rock landscape. Thank goodness for weirdos who like to party.

The band's self-titled debut album comes about four years after the group started ripping it up at a residency at their spiritual home base, Radio Bean. Its 12 tracks, produced by Rough Francis' Urian Hackney at the Box, are a carnivalesque romp. They skitter from new wave to punk to arena rock to power pop, fueled by a theatrical energy. The album is practically a rock opera.

Front person Derek Proulx, drummer Matt Barry, bassist Emily Tompkins and keyboardist/guitarist Aaron Lee create asymmetrical, pre-apocalyptic bangers. Appropriately, there's a hint of madness in their work. That unsettling manic energy manifests in the antics of the group's unofficial fifth member, former Spielpalast Cabaret MC Phinneus Sonin, who often creates a one-man circus at the band's live shows.

Borrowing the essence of Civil War anthem "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" for intro "Bullet Train," the album starts with a rallying call. "Four hundred miles an hour / Faster," Proulx bellows, priming the rush of subsequent track "Candy." The juxtaposition of the plodding opener and the next cut's synth-streaked chaos is stylistic whiplash, the band's specialty.

"Wash Feet," its title a Post-it note stuck to the bathroom mirror, is like stepping into a cluttered mind. "Where the hell are my shoes / I swear that they were here the last time I had worn them," Proulx mutters over stirring synths and snappy snares.

Guitars jut out at odd angles all over "My Friends," a shouted list song that surges with maximalism. Its hook climbs, teeters and topples ("My friends! / My friends! / My friends! / Just trying to stay out of trouble"), reaching a grinding whirlpool of sound.

Other standout cuts include the futuristic tango "Reno Room," the slow-motion ballad "Ocean" and the Van Halen homage "Jordi's Song."

The album's through line is whimsy. You're likely to crack a smile and even laugh out loud while listening. Even when darkness creeps into Mad's world, they find it kind of funny.

Mad is available at madtheband.bandcamp.com and on all major streaming platforms. The band performs on Saturday, August 5, on the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington as part of Festival of Fools.