J'UN OEIL

4.5 stars. SLOCHE's debut is another album from Quebec like OPUS 5's that must be heard to be believed. A 5 piece band with 2 keyboardists, although one of them plays sax at times.The vocals are fantastic as well and are in French.

"C'Pas Fin Du Monde" opens with spacey synths for the first 1 1/2 minutes then this intricate sounding melody takes over with keys, bass, light drums and more. A collage of sounds really. Vocals join in a minute later. Nice. This sounds amazing ! A calm 5 1/2 minutes in then some bombastic drums and organ kick in before it settles into a jazzy groove. Nice guitar after 7 1/2 minutes. "Le Kareme D'Eros" is the longest track at almost 11 minutes.We get piano melodies to open for over 3 1/2 minutes before vocals and a heavy and full sound takes over. They're having fun ! Great guitar after 5 minutes as it trades solos with the organ. Incredible section ! It settles with synths and piano before 7 minutes then the vocals come back. It turns spacey followed by a heavier sound after 9 minutes. Check it out ! Great section.

"J'un Oeil" builds to an incredible sound a minute in. Vocals join in too. Beautiful sound.There is a GENTLE GIANT vibe and then it settles before 3 minutes, we're back to the main melody with vocals a minute later. "Algebrique" opens with acoustic guitar as synths join in. Drums come in as the tempo picks up. Vocals 2 minutes in. An outburt of guitar and sound comes and goes 3 1/2 minutes in. Sax in this one too. Love the drum patterns here. Great track. "Potage Aux Herbes Douteuses" opens with a catchy beat, kind of funky actually. Cool sound especially the drumming after 2 1/2 minutes. Vocals a minute later followed by some outstanding floating organ sounds. Guitar and drums after 5 1/2 minutes take over. Vocals are back. It calms right with acoustic guitar to end it.

This will appeal to more then just Jazz fans out there, a hidden gem if there ever was one.