What do mariachi horns, sperm, Hanukkah and carrot flowers have in common? They, alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber, West Side Story and the Buddha, all feature in this exuberant, sprawling, sometimes baffling opus from New York cabaret performer Salty Brine. He, plus his four-strong band, take us on a wild ride, stitching together teen journal entries with triumphant trumpet and lots of romantic longing.
The show is based around Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 indie rock album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Its writer, Jeff Mangum was obsessed with Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and many of the surreal lyrics on the cult album riff around her life in hiding, and tragic death. Brine then riffs on the album, through the lens of his own first love and lust. We are transported to an attic in Amsterdam, then bars in the East Village, all soundtracked with Brine’s rich voice.
It’s a maximalist approach, leaving some of the crowd blank-faced as they try to keep up with the interlocking stories. Brine has magnetic energy in spades, and delivers his storytelling project with unwavering conviction, so it’s best just to be his passenger and go with it.
Salty Brine: HOW STRANGE IT IS (The Neutral Milk Hotel Show), Summerhall, until 30 Aug (not 24), 9.30pm