It is of no surprise to me at all to discover that the debut album by this Belgian six-piece was recorded live in the studio in one day. The brainchild of Antoine Guenet (key/vocals – also in The Wrong Object), he brought together Fulco Ottervanger (vocals), Wim Segers (vibraphones), Yannick De Pauw (guitars), Dries Geusens (bass) and Simon Segers (drums) to bring his vision to life. And what a strange and anarchic vision it is too. Here was have Zappa and Beefheart going at it hammer and tongs, with Art Zoyd and Can also weighing in for all that they are worth. This is not easy music to listen to, and certainly isn’t easy listening! But, as I have found with all music of this style, if you are willing to persevere and get inside the heads of the musicians then the effort is more than repaid.
Fulco may not have the gruffness of the Captain, but he shares a similar approach to both him and Damo Suzuki. He may not believe too much in melody etc, but what he is doing does make sense amid the mayhem. Wim shows that a vibraphone can really rock when it needs to, and when he duels with the others it is something indeed. You will either be highly impressed with this album or think that it is one of the worse things ever released. There is no middle ground.
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