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Non-Prog CD Reviews

Undercover Rabbis

Andromeda

Review by Gary Hill

Do you like noisy, fuzz drenched music? If so, you will love this. The music here ranges from almost punk based DIY to stoner metal, space rock and more. It's often in an area that could be called "art rock." However you label, this, though it's not for everyone. It's built for those with adventurous tastes. If you are one of those people, you are going to be rewarded. There is some particularly cool stuff here. In fact, there is only one cut that doesn't really work for me. The rest is magic in its own unique way. 


This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2018  Volume 1 at  garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2018.

Track by Track Review
Follow the Wind
Percussion brings this into being. As it works out from there it gets into some killer stoner rock styled sounds. There is a lot of space rock in the mix, though. That's particularly true of the keyboard laden section. In fact, I'd either call this psychedelic rock or space rock. It has a lot of both. It's a cool tune with some interesting changes. This is dark, heavy and so cool. As it approaches the three-minute mark, it drops to a slower, mellower movement that is full progressive rock with a lot of psychedelia built into it. From there it shifts out to a killer psychedelic jam. It works back to the song proper after that for an instrumental movement before shifting to pure space. Heavy space rock tentatively rises up as that sound continues. It shifts toward something like Electric Wizard. The next vocals come in amidst that arrangement. As it works out after that we get into more psychedelically tinged proggy sounds. That segment ends the piece near the seven and a half minute mark.
Guns

As much as I liked the opener, this one really perplexes me in comparison. It's drone-oriented and quite punky. It seems really pedestrian next to the opening masterpiece. It is very much DIY oriented. All that said, some of the instrumental sections work pretty well, particularly the noisy guitar solo segment around the three minute mark. This earns a major parental advisory.

Silvertruckin'

This feels somewhere in between the first two songs. It's a cool instrumental that has a lot of droning modern psychedelia in the mix. Yet there is also a DIY kind of vibe here. I love the faster paced, intense sections. The cut wanders toward stoner metal at times.

Andromeda

Fuzz driven music serves as the background for spoken lyrical recitation. That creates a very art-rock kind of thing. This is post punk art rock, really. I can imagine the Talking Heads doing this, but it would sound much different from them. The distorted guitar sound creates a dense wall tapestry for the backdrop.

Lethe

Coming in tentatively, this gradually works upward. It shifts out toward something between Sleep and Electric Wizard. This is another that leans toward space rock. This works through a number of intriguing shifts and changes. It gets quite art-based. I love the noisy, fuzz-laden guitar sounds on this piece. The whole cut is dynamic and quite interesting.

Be the Moth

Slow and heavy, there is such a cool almost metal sound to the first part of this track. After a very metallic jam, it turns to more of a space rock based thing for the vocals to enter. This is another that has a definite leaning toward those space based sounds, but it also gets quite noisy. The instrumental section late in the track gets crazed in it's raucous musical explorations. That segment eventually takes the track to a noisy end.

 
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