VOLCANO THE BEAR - Grande Pfungst

In the end, by buying the mediocre “Volfrudolf”, you also end up with this “Grande Pfungst”, a collection of archival material and brand-new tracks. A way of justifying the purchase, basically, because here at least Volcano The Bear remember, if only in fits and starts, that they're a great band.

An uneven record, in love with the dissolute and anarchic fragment - you might even call it “weird” for the way it brings to mind so many “out” experiences of the modern American underground scene - “Grande Pfungst” is a carousel of assorted recklessness, of electric and acoustic experimentalism that sounds like it came off some cassette haphazardly recorded during an impromptu session (“W.Q. Refurteniser 2”, “Goosewar”, “K.S.U.V.”). A free-form approach that is anarchy in disguise, a will to destabilize and rebuild using cast-off materials, hypotheses, aborted songs (“10000 Oats”), moving from the lopsided circularity of “Night Fig” to the minimalist ritualism of “Barbara Castle Festival Hall”, from Bregovic as reinterpreted by Residents on “Glad Spargeleit” to the almost sacred choral quality of “W.Q. Refurteniser”.

A breath of fresh air, then, compared to the uncertain wanderings of the “mother album”. There are also hints of decomposed free-jazz (“Orson”, “Malt-O-Stratos”), alongside the asymmetrical concretism of “Cecil Village” and the glitched-out videogame feel of “Vermicelli”. “Sir Lord Horseradish Metal”, finally, is nothing more than the result of this addition: noise + a random track by Factums remixed by your dumb friend + brass-section mockery + found percussion. For now, that'll do.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

05/05/2010