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When I received
this CD, I wondered "What the f''' is this all about?" A cheesy sounding
band name, even more cheesy sounding pseudonyms, and songs with English,
Swedish and Spanish titles. Is someone doing a Spinal Tap of space rock
or something?
And to answer that last question immediately - no, it's not a Spinal Tap
kinda thing. As to the first question...
What we have here, is an album full of space rock. Space rock with a
strong feel of the early 70's. The spacey sound effects and lengthy jams
obviously means that a Hawkwind reference is needed, the heavy guitar
heard throughout this record warrants a reference to early Black Sabbath
and, to some extent, to stoner rock. And the flute used throughout the
record makes it easy to drop names like Jethro Tull and Camel as well.
And these outer space dudes knows what was hot in the hard rock and
space rock circles 30-35 years ago, on close listening you'll be able to
hear elements (and a couple of homage's as well) to several other
artists from the early 70's.
But the main reference point for this record is Hawkwind. More due to
style and structure than due to the music itself. And with some
important differences. The most obvious difference being that while
Hawkwinds music most often sounds like it's filtered through thick smoke
screens of dubious origins, FBFOS's music sound more planned, structured
and sober. And FBFOS has managed to do something that Hawkwind rarely
has managed - to record an album with no weak tracks.
The only track being a tad weaker than the rest is "Mean Spacemachine",
as the first couple of minutes here doesn't quite gel. But then even
this tune suddenly gels, ending with a couple of minutes of pure space
rock genius.
Personally, I have marked two tracks as better
than the rest here. "Utan att veta", a loud and hard track with lots of
subtleties and details in the soundscape, good mood and sound changes
throughout the song and some excellent flute work. "Gröna Händer" is the
other highlight, 13 minutes plus of space rock spiced with Sabbath
guitars, that suddenly spirals off into a lengthy techno/ambient section
before going back to the Sabbathy stoner rock; and then ending in a more
ambient mood.
The rest of the tracks here are very good as well, with lengthy guitar
and synth jams with swirling sounds and spacey flutes filling out the
soundscapes, as well as more ambient moods being given space (sic) at
times; the record actually starts with a lengthy ambient mood that is
revisited on the last track on the album.
Obviously, this is not music for all and sundry. But for those of you
that like harder edged space rock and doesn't mind a 70's sound to the
music, this record should be added to your music collection ASAP.
Rating: 8 (out of 10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen
: : Visit the Artist’s Website : :
: : Discography : :
Impressionable Sounds Of
The Subsonic (2006)
We´re Only in it for the Spacerock (2005) |
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