What happens when you set loose in the studio two instrumental geniuses, allow them to come up with a nonsensical album title and write their asses off? You get this.
On Aperiodic Grok -- a jazz-rock hybrid that just might leave you drooling -- Tenk Van Dool (Temple of Switches) plays more types of keyboards than I can mention here, along with all sorts of guitars, basses, a talk box and even a mandolin, while drummer and percussionist Paul Sears (The Muffins) drives each track with as much precision and delicacy as the songs require.
The album opens, appropriately, with “This Song Walks Into a Bar...” -- which serves as a thrilling and thunderous introduction to what’s in store on the rest of this intense, experimental yet dramatic and melodic 10-track album. “Empty Hall and the Dancing Shadows” sounds as melancholy as you might expect, painting sonic pictures of ghostly lovers and bygone eras. Then there’s “The Line at Weird Walter’s Wake,” which veers from Canterbury to metal in under four-and-a-half minutes. Other highlights include the frisky “Berkeley Barn Dance” and the all-too-brief “Köln” (both anchored by a majestic Hammond). And I love the alliteration in the title of “Complacency Catastrophe," as well as the mysterious musical interplay between Van Dool and Sears.
This is outstanding stuff, with Van Dool and Sears playing flawlessly. Yet part of me wishes some of these songs had lyrics!
Note: Since its initial release, Aperiodic Grok has been picked up by Deko Entertainment/Warner and will be re-released in September 2024.
Track Listing
1. This Song Walks Into a Bar…
2. Empty Hall and the Dancing Shadows
3. Katie and Natalie
4. The Line at Weird Walter’s Wake
5. Köln
6. Berkeley Barn Dance
7. It’s Raining in Casmalia
8. Complacency Catastrophe
9. The Royal Court and the Dirt Beneath
10. Turn Back Time
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
