THE NARCOTIC DAFFODILS

First album of this Brussels-based quintet, lead by organist & "sitarist" Simon Rigot along with his longtime buddy bassist Philippe Declercq. Hakim's searing guitars and Irene's haunting vocals are the other highlights of the band's psychy hard rock soundscapes, that definitely sounds late 60's or early- 70's-ish, without sounding formulaic or too retro-prog, the artwork providing an ideal and fitting complement to illustrate some of their more poetic moments in their soundscapes.

Opening on the sitar-drenched transe-inducing lengthy intro of Back From Calcutta, the tracks veers into a Hammond-driven descending riff in the Mr. Jacky second-part, being slightly reminiscent (the super Irene's vocals) of the Stones' Paint It Black. The following Happens All The Time will probably become one of the band's concert favourite and it might have the album's two catchy singles three or four decades ago. Hakim's solemn guitar opens Cat On The Roof, Irene's hard-driving vocals contrasts with Simon's calmer Hammond, so Hakim must come back in force to finally climax triumphantly. The punky-garagy track Riding The Drag shows the roots of the band from their Lunar Tikis days. The closing 13-mins+Crazy Dwarf also features some punky lyrics from the delicious Irene, but opens in a slow electric guitar arpeggio, slowly gaining momentum before going towards a "no prisoner" tempo, but quickly retroceding to a calmer but searing guitar solo, after a psyched-out middle section.

Although a rather raw-sounding first album (this is a positive comment), ND suffers from relatively straight-ahead pop lyrics sung on catchy chorus lines, which might hint that they're light on content, but such is not the case, as the band is firing from all five cylinders and is quite impressive instrumentally. Unlike many Belgian bands that struggle to find local or international concerts, ND already covered most of Western Europe, which shows that they are as dynamic on and off stage as they are in their music.