Ol’ Tony Bones and crew ain’t making a reviewers job easy with Viva Le Vox’s latest, “Dirt For Sale.” The boys should be applauded for establishing a Frankenstein sound, a conglomeration of ragtime, jazz and punk. This is what makes reviewing it so difficult, as nailing down a reference point to form a basis of comparison in order to give the reader a sense of the sound without using the sense of hearing. Certainly lines of delineation can be found, but they become skewed and cloaked behind some other element in the songs that the connect because. The easiest comparison to make would be to Gogol Bordello, and certainly there are some lazier rock writers out there that would take this comp out, as it is defensible, though a stretch. While the end products could be held a kin, placing both bands under the same narrow banner would be a disservice. The ascetics may be similar, the methods and aims are not. “Dirt For Sale” can best be described as a frantic record, at times it comes off like a Dixieland jazz band (complete with horns) providing the music for the world’s fastest funeral procession. At other moments the music burns with a joyful bitter-sweetness. This juxtaposition is best presented in the album closer “Hope Tank,” which takes the listener through a number of changes in melody, tempo and music styles, each marking off the song like chapters in a book about the almighty buck. This precision with which the band makes the transitions in this song are as impressive in the amount of restraint shown within the orchestration of these movements. Excessive instrumentation has been left at the wayside, along with the cluster fuck of noise that accompanies bands that attempt to add too many layers at one time. This sense of care can be found throughout the record, as only necessary instrumentation is in the mix. Bones even takes it down to just the guitar and voice in a few instances on the disc. Overall, “Dirt For Sale” is a solid release from a band that is changing the perception of rock music is and what it can be.