Thursday 20 September 2018

Psychedelic Pop, Rock, Prog from Iceland: Trubrot - Undir Ahrifum 1970 (2009 Shadoks)



The second album by early-'70s Icelandic group Trúbrot marks a significant change in their sound, the result of extensive personnel upheaval. While the band was originally the combination of members from some of Iceland's biggest bands, Hljómar and Flowers, their female vocalist, Shady Owens, departed before the album was recorded, as did organist Karl Sighvatsson and drummer Gunnar Jökull Hákonarson.
The two remaining members, Gunnar Pordarson and Rúnnar Júlíusson, found two replacements and moved forward as a quartet. The band's earlier sound, which mixed '60s pop with occasionally heavy boogie in the vein of Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin, was largely abandoned on Undir Áhrifum, in favor of a looser, folkier sound based on vocal harmonies.
Many songs recall Crosby, Stills & Nash with their multi-part vocals and jangling acoustic guitars, while others -- "Tracks" in particular -- sound very influenced by Rod Stewart's work with the Faces, and the nearly 11-minute "Feel Me," with its liturgical organ and hammering drums, sounds like Uriah Heep at their most depressive. In another major shift, almost all the lyrics are in English, rather than Icelandic, something that was controversial in their homeland at the time. This is a strong example of early-'70s progressive rock, recommended to fans of the type of thing the Shadoks label typically unearths and puts out.(Phil Freeman, allmusic.com)


The album has a lot to offer. Above all good songs and despite different styles the album still sounds like from one casting. This is mainly due to the excellent vocal passages which give the songs a high recognition value. After the band was almost at the end, the remaining two band members managed to record a versatile second album. Recommended.(Frank)


Flac
mp3@320 

No comments:

Post a Comment

If you want to write a comment a google account is required.