J'UN OEIL

While Canada in general was a bit sluggish in the world of progressive rock during the 1970s (let's not talk about Rush!) along with its southern neighbor the USA, Quebec was without a doubt the most celebrated exception and single-handedly cranked out some of the highest calibre prog from the entire North American continent during that era. While not as successful as their European counterpoints, Quebcois prog nonetheless had its cult following and has become even more popular in the more recent years as the world discovers the long lost gems of the past. We can thank ProgQuebec for reviving many of these lost treasures.

Maneige, Et Cetera and Harmonium are well respected bands from this era but the band SLOCHE was perhaps the most unique and adventurous of them all. This band formed in Quebec City in 1971 by Pierre Bouchard who was a self-taught musician and whose parents were famous concert pianists. He was a self-taught musician who not only mastered his parents' classical roots but dug into their record collection filled with Frank Zappa, European prog and jazz. His vision of creating a unique mixture of all of the above led him to form the band SLOCHE which is a French term that roughly means "slush" but in recent years has also become a sugary frozen treat!

SLOCHE is also unique in the fact that of all the founding members: Pierre Bouchard (keyboards), Jacques Collin (bass), Fernand Paré (drums) and Marcel Périgny (guitar), not a single one of them would appear on SLOCHE's only two albums which would appear a few years down the road and this includes the absence of the founding member himself. Instead Bouchard seems to have handed over the project to the first future band member Réjean Yacola (piano, vocals) who would slowly add the new members until the lineup of the band's debut came to fruition. J'UN OEIL which emerged in 1975 would included Yacola with Caroll Bérard (guitar, vocals), Pierre Hébert (bass, vocals), Gilles Chiasson (drums) and Martin Murray (organ, synthesizer, saxophone, vocals).

While clearly in the jazz-fusion paradigm with a strong sense of Herbie Hancock styled funk fusion, SLOCHE was clearly one of those rare bands that excelled on many fronts. In other words the fusion was well beyond jazz as the members had a keen sense of Western classical music, jazz, progressive rock, Berlin School progressive electronic as well as excellent vocal harmonizing skills. Although the band released two albums before facing the harsh realities of declining sales for such adventurous music, much of the material on the two albums was written simultaneously with some finding its way onto this debut album while others shelved for the following "Stadaconé."

J'UN OEIL, French for "I Have An Eye" was met with enthusiasm by a small number of hardened prog fans but went over the heads of most due to the nature of the band's virtuosic skills that crafted compositions that were stuffed with multiple themes which meant the methodologies included intricate developments with abrupt changes of style that went down a completely different route with some finding resolution with a reprise of the original theme but oft completely derailing and becoming mini-suites in their own right. Skilled and thoughtful music taking the jazz-fusion musical style to a logical conclusion of sorts well beyond what the Mahavishnu Orchestra had conjured up.

Consisting of five tracks, J'UN OEIL is a marathon of exhilaration in all regards. Kept accessible primarily by funk-fueled jazz-fusion, the album meanders into myriad directions with the opening "C'pas fin du monde" alone featuring excellent group vocal interactions, outstanding guitar and bass jazz-fusion chops, Yes inspired prog rock time signature excellence and an intricate use of electronic effects for maximum contrast. "Le Lareme D'eros" follows with a lengthy classical piano recital which paves the way for the funky fusion feast to follow with the same dexterity and technical wizardry. In fact the entire album excels at these dynamic shifts and although primarily instrumental, the few vocal parts display a band that was every bit as talented as their anglo-counterparts such as Yes, Gentle Giant and ELP.

The title track which appears smack dab in the middle is perhaps the most "normal" track on board as well as the shortest. It features a rather Gentle Giant-is rhythmic and melodic display only steeped in fusion overtones and the most vocal track of all which like all of the Quebec scene finds the band singing in its native French language. This of all tracks makes me think of how fellow Quebecers Harmonium may have sounded had they engaged on a heavier rock trajectory. "Algebrique" displays the bands uncanny ability to craft an dark eerie mood with slow creeping guitar arpeggios and a minimoog before getting abstract for a brief moments and then breaking out some of the most progged out time signatures frenzies approaching the avant-prog workouts of Henry Cow only to reel things in a bit with some humorous almost Canterbury inspired vocal performances!

The closing "Potage Aux Herbes Douteuses" begins like a funkified Doobie Brothers sounding tune but slowly transmogrifies into a prog rock fusion beast! While i took an instant liking to SLOCHE, i have to say that it took me quite a few spins to digest the craftiness that lies beyond the accessibilities but once i cracked this nut i find SLOCHE to be one of the most creative bands of the entire 1970s prog scene much less Quebec. This band not only exhibited that joie de vie that Francophone regions of the world display but they also captured all of the best of what the English scene had cranked out while this band was undergoing its extreme makeovers. Given that all of the musicians on board earned impressive conservatory creds only guaranteed that their lofty visions were brought to fruition with creative compositional flow, outstanding technical wizardry and a perfect sense of balance. While many prefer one SLOCHE album to the other, personally i find them to be of equal caliber although J'UN OEIL took me a bit longer to more fully appreciate.