What is this kind of noise! That was my first thought when I listened to Use And Ornament, the debut album of Regal Worm, a progressive rock project founded by Jarrod Gosling. They are based in Sheffield, England, and are an electronic pop psych outfit. For me, it was logical to hear this cacophony of music, because Regal Worm has a lot of people who (try to) play an - unknown - instrument. People, just like the mentioned Jarrod Gosling, on instruments such as Mellotron, synthesizers, organs, pianos, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, drums, percussion, bowed saw, glockenspiel, accordion, recorder, whistles and mouth organ. And I may not forget the musical contribution of his friends, like Mick Somerset-Ward on saxophones, flutes, whistles and clarinets or Peter Rophone and Kevin Pearce on voices, Louis Atkinson on saxophones, Lucy Fawcetton trumpet or Richard Bradley on EMS Synthi. Nick Gosling on electric guitar and Graham McElearney on harp. Nor, finally, Jack Helliwell, who played the violin. The band describes their effort as alternative progressive rock with fusion, jazz and psychedelic influences and they think that their sound is equally good as that of legendary bands like Soft Machine or Magma. Did I like it? No, no, no. In my opinion, none of the nine songs have any structure at all. Almost an hour of experimental noise is too much for me. * Cor Smeets (edited by Esther Ladiges) Where to buy? |
