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Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
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Reviews

The Gatekeepers — Nostalgia for the Great American Monoculture
(Bandcamp Think Like a Key TLAK1180, 2024, CD / DL)

The Gatekeepers — Diary of a Teenage Prophet
(Bandcamp Think Like a Key TLAK, 2026, CD / 2LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-03-29

Nostalgia for the Great American Monoculture Cover artDiary of a Teenage Prophet Cover art

When I reviewed The Gatekeepers a couple of years ago, I assumed it was a one-off, a grand project of composer Alex Wroten presenting a satire of the music business with a baffling array of guests from all over the avant-rock world. As it turned out, I encountered that album just before its sequel (of a sort) came out in 2024, Nostalgia for the Great American Monoculture, which aims its satirical lens at modern digital life and social media. It features a similarly impressive roster of guests, including The Residents, Shawn Phillips, R. Stevie Moore, Dave Newhouse, Emily Hay, and many more, though it’s presented less as a coherent narrative and more a set of thematically linked individual songs. Whether it’s investment scams, phishing attempts, identity theft, invasion of privacy, or any of the other online ills that have become part of modern life, Wroten and company take it on in imaginative ways, varying the musical style from track to track, from angular avant-rock to jaunty folk-rock to delicate chamber-rock and more. It’s certainly the case that these topics are easy targets for satire (as most any contemporary comedian can attest) — and the same could be said of the music industry from the first Gatekeepers album — but Wroten’s writing is smart enough, and his arrangements varied enough, to elevate the project well above mere piling-on.

And wouldn’t you know it — just as I’m ready to review the second Gatekeepers album, a third one shows up! Diary of a Teenage Prophet is due out in April 2026, and it’s a different beast in some ways, while retaining many of the qualities from the first two albums. Instead of a satire of some aspect of modern life, it’s a science fiction concept album with an intriguing story. Long after some kind of apocalyptic collapse, the diary of a teenage girl surviving from the Before Times becomes the basis of a religion – or something like that. I’m reminded a bit of the classic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, though the similarities are only superficial. Many of the same collaborators are included, along with newcomers like Mattias Olssen, Morgen Agren, Hugh Banton, and Brian Woodbury. Listeners will hear things that bring to mind such diverse influences as Frank Zappa, Godley & Creme, XTC, The Residents, Thinking Plague, Samla Mammas Manna, and more. The music is perhaps a bit more coherent this time out, and you might want to follow along with the lyrics at least once to get a picture of what’s going on. After that, it’s absolutely possible to enjoy the songs individually. It’s been said that this finishes off Wroten’s trilogy of albums — I don’t know what comes next, but I’ll certainly be paying attention.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): The Residents, Amy Denio, Shawn Phillips, Dave Newhouse (Manna / Mirage), The Gatekeepers, Emily Hay, R. Stevie Moore

More info
http://gatekeepers-official.bandcamp.com

 

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