Marble Sheep
This is a compilation of live recordings done during their German tour in 2006. The recordings are done very roughly and sound very smoky. Many times the band sound like old dirty rockers who play like old rockers, a bit more like German basement rock bands, while they have much more in common. They even seem to sing in German, but I cannot understand a word. Luckily, their guitarist (which is former White Heaven guitarist, Ken Matsutani) shows some freaky moments (comparable to what he did in White Heaven), at the times when the band plays for instance a bluesy, repetitive bass line, with psychedelic effect and room for such improvisations. Elsewhere, they are also able to improvise in a rather moody psychedelic rock way on some of the songs, which is enjoyable to hear as well. While fundamentally playing or falling back on heavy played rock/rock’n roll, I prefer the group best when they really freak-out, and almost flip, which doesn’t happen too often. On “Who shoud be trust?” there’s one moment where the drummers are rolling like thunder, and the guitars become noisy (like also known and typical for some live concerts of Acid Mother’s Temple). Also “Horizon” has some great psychedelic freak-out moments mixed with moodier passages. On “Rain” is another great flip moment with great drives in the drumming. For these German tour and live concerts, they had invited Morihide Sawada (from Yura Yura Teikoku) to become their second drummer. When both drummers push the music forward, this creates some of the best psychedelic moments. But most often it is on the rock song that the group leans on, like slightly tired rockers, having given already lots of energy in their experiencing the late evenings so many many times, and with drinks and other things that I’m sure will be already exhausting for their creative attitudes to give away and burn up all energy they have.
Those who order the CD directly in Japan get a 3-track bonus CD, also recorded in Germany. It is not an essential submission.
PS. The digipack contains various pictures from their tour.
