ARMED OBSERVATION

Doctor Nerve is one of the more obscure RIO/Avant bands from the US, it seems. For people unfamiliar with this band (leaded by guitarist/producer Nick Didkovsky), they play a complex form of something that could be called "Punk/Jazz/Avant/Fusion". Their second album, titled "Armed Observation" was the first release that really stated their sound that would be notable on the next few releases (their first one, "Out to Bomb Fresh Kings", was similar, though less focused.) Totally bizarre time-signatures with often wood-wind dominated melodies and a good dose of weird humor, kinda comparable to Frank Zappa's instrumentals during albums like "The Man From Utopia" or "Them or Us", is the best way to describe this one. Besides this, it also has a great flow to it, and except for a few noodling guitar tracks, it rarely get's boring or uninspired. The superb and eclectic instrumentation is also a plus for this album, not to mention it's clever and intricate arrangements.

Although it's not very long, this album shows a surprisingly great variety in terms of songwriting, though all songs are in the same style to each other. Any RIO/Avant lover should appreciate this work. It's not directly easy-listening, but it still has very high qualities. Highly recommended to any open-minded RIO/Avant head who loves stuff like Zappa, Eskimo etc. Don't be a Hog, check it out! My rating: 4.5/5