It's been years since a Greek band surprised and excited me. Of course I don't live in Greece any more and so I don't have the chance to see a lot of them live, but my friend Anastasia provides me with CD's by some of the more interesting new underground/indie bands. "Chickn" is, for me, the cream of the crop. Psychedelic Rock has always been popular in Greece - especially around my old neighborhood Exarchia, with lots of specialized music bars and record shops. But there hasn't been a world-class band in this genre since the heyday of Purple Overdose some 20 years ago. And when I say world class, I mean it! In the recent years I've bought neo-psychedelic CD's by the likes of Tame Impala or MGMT based on the glaring reviews in the music press only to be underwhelmed by what I heard. Chickn are far, far better. Their sound is deeply rooted in the 60's and 70's, but also thoroughly modern. They have great melodies but are primarily groove-based, sometimes reminding me of stoner bands like Kyuss or Monster Magnet. Songs are often expanded into space rock jams but, on the record at least, never for too long (only 2 songs are around the 10-minute mark). Their album starts off with "Chickn Tribe", a funky blues with a deep groove, followed by "Omens" whose heavy psychedelia and swirling oriental synths remind me of Floyd circa "Set The Controls...". "Aleppo/Jam" features more spacey synths as well as melodic vocals. Soon it develops into a prog/space rock jam of the finest variety. "Modular Prayer" is a more conventional song in 60's psych style - evidently they keep the improvisations for "Modular Prayer (Reprise)" which veers closely to free jazz territory. "Taqsim/Rhy/Tavk Hava" is an Eastern-sounding jam that seems to be influenced by early Porcupine Tree and the 60's U.S. band Kaleidoscope. "Forget/Small Things" starts off like H.P. Lovecraft but soon turns into a space rock jam. "Articulation" is a slow electronic piece that reminds me of yet another obscure 60's band, Silver Apples - are you taking notes? Good, because if you don't already know all these bands you should definitely check them out. "Prelude On Mary" is a bucolic interlude before a last psychedelic jam "Shifting Time Blues/Akhedia". The band call their music Jetztzeit (Now-Time) rock, which is a general term open for interpretation. You can call it neo-psychedelia, space rock, prog, stoner rock, jam music, whatever - it is what it is. You can listen to the whole album for free online (and/or buy) here.
**** for Chickn Tribe, Omens, Aleppo/Jam, Modular Prayer, Taqsim/Rhy/Tavk Hava,
*** for Forget/Small Things, Articulation, Modular Prayer (Reprise), Prelude On Mary, Shifting Time Blues
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