by Mott the Dog
5
Space Stars *****
Von Frickle released an album, Mission 4.9, in 2005
that demands you prick your ears up and listen to them. Believe me when
I tell you that in the very near future Von Frickle are going to be the
leading band in their chosen field of rock music.
The reason I have every confidence in this statement
is many fold. Firstly and most obviously, the music is absolutely
stunning, but more of that later. Secondly, they have paid their dues,
this being their fifth CD release; more importantly though only their
second on the O.I.E Record Label, which is a small but dedicated label
built on the love of music - a close group that works very hard at
bringing to the world music of high quality and originality. This means
that Von Frickle is going to get the record label support they are going
to need in the years to come. Thirdly, through O.I.E.’s hard work they
have caught the “eye” of Redeye Distribution, the largest
independent distribution company in America, which will be working
closely with O.I.E. Records from November onwards. This means the likes
of both Von Frickle’s albums, Feeding The Organic Computer (2001) and
this masterpiece of modern instrumental rock music, Mission 4.9 plus,
Von Frickle’s new album, as yet unnamed but due out in 2006, will be
available through most major CD outlets such as Amazon, making the
availability of bands such as Von Frickle open to a much wider audience.
Von Frickle is an American quartet from Eureka,
Illinois, but they proudly wear their British progressive rock
influences on their sleeve. In Von Frickle’s music you can hear a
little early Floyd, and the controlled violence of The Who from the
Who’s Next era (but you must remember that The Who influenced almost
every rock musician of that era), but mostly King Crimson. There is
nothing wrong with showing where the roots of your music come from, as
long as you have put your own defining stamp on it, which Von Frickle
certainly have. The first difference the casual listener will notice is
that there are no vocals with Von Frickle which in comparison to King
Crimson is a good thing as let’s face it, since Peter Sinfield left
King Crimson in the early seventies Crimson’s lyrics have been a load
of nonsense anyway. The skill level of all of Von Frickle musicians more
than makes up for any wayward vocals.
Who is Von Frickle? Well I am not totally sure as the
only photos of them in the very well designed CD cover are all of them
in stage attire of which they chose to remain uniformly anonymous in
colourless suits adorned with heavy duty eyewear. It may sound a little
odd and quite frankly it is a little odd. But then Von Frickle ARE a
little odd.
The music on display here on Mission 4.9 is very
angular stuff. Chopping guitar riffs, combining difficult time
signatures, with space jams that drill their way into your subconscious
without you even realizing it. As each song assaults your senses you are
aware that this is musical science fiction. Although the guys in the
band lay down the blueprints of each song, you personally can interpret
each piece on its own merits and your own personnel mood.
The first time I heard opening song, Kablam, it
brought to mind the soundtrack to a particularly vicious repetitive
nightmare with its driving crisscross rhythms, driving deeper and deeper
into your fears before allowing you a few relaxing seconds to wake up
and put your fears behind you, then out of nowhere, grabbing you from
behind and plunging back into your worst fears. Clever stuff. Of course
I was not quite so scared the next time round, but I do not think it
would be a good idea to play Kablam again late at night unless you had
your teddy firmly wedged under your arm and the nightlight on.
Von Frickle are led by the faceless Lee Fehr, who
wrote single handed six of the pieces on this album plus had a finger in
the other three. His guitar playing is nothing short of excellent,
combining heavy riffing with some splendid solo work. What goes on in
this man’s head is something that most of us will never want to know
about, but at the same time we are always glad there is someone out
there prepared to show off their visions, so we can have a quick peek,
and then retire to a safe distance.
Tim Pierson has nailed the bass work to the space
rock mast of Von Frickle and in the same way as Lemmy did with Hawkwind
many moons ago, he has been skilfully heavy handed with it, leaving your
speakers in tatters if you dare turn the volume up past eleven.
Ken Thornton is the ship’s engineer to Lee Fehr’s
captain, making sure that at all times the good ship Von Frickle is at
warp factor 8, laying down a blanket of sound with vintage keyboard
flourishes and following Lee Fehr’s guitar and synthesizer work in
almost classic rock style.
But the jewel in Von Frickle’s musical castle is
definitely the drumming of John Ganser. The man never even remotely
sounds like missing a beat; in fact his crisp drum sound is almost
leading the songs on the heavier up tempo numbers. If Bill Bruford was
the drummer’s drummer, there is a new kid in town.
Not all the songs have the nightmarish quality of
Kablam. Unlike most bands of their ilk there is only one truly epic
number, the very eerie mood piece POD, which closes the album, clocking
in at eleven and a half minutes. The rest are more like short, sharp
shocks, before the next song drags you off into an entirely different
direction. Look out for the two minute mark in second song, Cranium
Controller, when the whole band comes crashing in on the riff together -
a great rock ‘n’ roll moment.
The whole band takes it one step further, really
wigging out on Attack Of The Giant Eyeball (great thing about
instrumentals, you can call them whatever you want). Terra Firma Exodus
provides the listener with some wonderful soundscapes, a slow moving
piece allowing one to dream of being in a multi coloured lava field, as
the molten metal weaves its pattern around you; beautiful atmospherics.
Then, just before the listener or the band themselves
are allowed to take themselves too seriously, we are all slapped on the
back of the head by Protoplasmic Squid Eater. If some of the other songs
by science fiction comparison are from Stanley Kubrick’s A Space
Odyssey 2001, then Protoplasmic Squid Eater is from the TV sci-fi comedy
Red Dwarf, a hilariously heavy version of The Flight Of The Bumble Bee.
I am sure when this is played live on stage by Von Frickle they have all
got great big Martian sized grins wrapped around their faces behind the
masks.
I look forward to hearing more products from Von
Frickle, indeed from the whole O.I.E label. Once they have worldwide
distribution, I am sure that world domination will follow. Remember the
name Von Frickle. If you would like to know more about Von Frickle
please looks up their website at www.vonfrickle.com or www.
oierecordsltd.com
Von Frickle are:
Lee Fehr: Guitars, Roland GR1 and GR33 Guitar Synths
John Gasner: Drums, Moog, Vintage Keys, Roland SP020 Drum Pad
Tim Pierson: Bass Guitar, Farfisa Organ, Moog
Ken Thornton: Guitars, Ebow, Vintage Keys
Music
Kablam
Cranium Controller
Shapeshifter
Petri Dish Incident
Attack Of The Giant Eyeball. (a) Evil Eye (b) Retinoblastoma
Terra Firma Exodus
Protoplasmic Squid Eater
Zombie Stomp
POD
A
disturbing book this week from the Bookazine shelf. The Natashas, Inside
the New Global Sex Trade (ISBN 1-55970-779-8, Arcade Publishing 2004)
looks at the human trafficking in young women and their subsequent plight.
Mott’s CD review: Von Frickle - Mission 4.9