(click to enlarge)

For the most part you will never see me posting about album covers. It’s not that I don’t appreciate artwork, it’s just that in the digital age talking about an album cover makes very little sense; even if you see one that you really, really like, then you talk about how you really, really like it… what next? More than likely you’ll never look at it again because listening to that album no longer necessitates picking up a physical object with that piece of artwork on it. Maybe you’ll see a tiny thumbnail on your iPod or in the corner of your iTunes window but that’s it. It’s not “covering” up anything — it’s just a random piece of art attached nebulously to the music. For this reason I believe that talking about album artwork is pretty much irrelevant in 2011, even if you enjoy the artwork.

But fuck me naked with a spoon if the cover for Protest the Hero’s new album Scurrilous — which we found out yesterday will come out on March 22nd — isn’t the coolest looking thing I’ve seen in a while. We should expect no less from Protest the Hero; these are guys who pay the utmost attention to the details of their music. So what in the fucking fuck is going on in this beautiful watercolor painting?? Let’s take a look:

To start, we’ve got a dame in a tree with a frog-like tongue making a play at a spider for dinner. One of her shoes has fallen off, and is laying next to the spider. Is she some kind of frog-woman? She’s kind of sitting like a frog. Now that I look a little more closely, her tongue kind of turns black at the very tip of it… it’s almost like the spider IS her tongue! Woah! Scary!

In the middle-ground we’ve got some ducks, deer, geese, an elephant and a big cat of some kind, and they all appear to be running away from the spider-tongued frog woman. There’s a black bear in the lower right corner checking out the situation; he doesn’t seem too scared. Also un-scared are the two peacocks hanging out in the tree, surveying the mayhem below. Next to them is a snake with his mouth agape; not sure what his deal is.

Let’s see what Google Dictionary has to say about the meaning of the album’s title:

scur·ril·ous Adjective
Synonyms:
adjective: coarse, vulgar, rude, obscene, ribald, abusive, nasty

1. Making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation; “a scurrilous attack on his integrity.”

2. Humorously insulting; “a very funny collection of bawdy and scurrilous writings.”

I can’t see definition #2 as having much relevance to the album artwork, although that particular use of the word “scurrilous” does seem in line with Protest the Hero’s collective sense of humor. Perhaps #1 is more relevant; has frog-woman’s reputation been scurrilously attacked causing her to avenge the entire animal kingdom with her spider tongue?

It’s also entirely possible that the album’s title is unrelated to the artwork, or at least not directly related. Perhaps lyrical themes on the album will shed some light upon this crazy piece of art. Perhaps the artwork is based on some biblical story and I’m completely oblivious (definitely possible). Perhaps I’m completely overanalyzing things and the artwork is just some crazy concoction of the artist’s imagination, or it was based on a dream that he or someone in the band had. Perhaps…

Perhaps I have no fucking clue.

-VN