HEY WEIRDO!

Jacopo Costa (AltrOck's YUGEN, SKE, CAMEMBERT, NOT A GOOD SIGN)'s one-of-a-kind avant/experimental vocal & percussion band from Strasbourg, Alsace, is back with another wonderful, joyful album of quirk and nostalgia and this one is far more accessible than 2015's Everyday Mythology.

1. "Listen" (0:20) (5/5)

2. "The Slap" (6:28) funky (8.75/10)

3. "All Hail" (6:16) the new pope! multiple quirky percussion instruments over which Clara and Maria sing their interestingly disconnected harmonies. (8.75/10)

4. "Sick Notes" (3:51) a truly beautiful yet heavy, pensive song. Lots of space and a slow pace. (9.25/10)

5. "The High Bar" (4:00) continues from the same take as the previous song but establishes itself in a completely different, very STEELY DAN-like song/instrumental structure. When Clara and Maria join in, each singing her own lyric into the weave, the music becomes even more interesting and, yes, engaging! Awesome song! (9.5/10)

6. "Hypnotic" (7:50) oddly, and intentionally, cumbersome and plodding for its first four minutes, things shift into a far more in-your-face insistent funk tune in the fifth minute. Interesting and ... odd. Full on progressive rock at its most progressive. (13.5/15)

7. "To And Fro" (4:02) opens with saw-synth before Fender Rhodes and vibes join in with drums and bass to create a rather sophisticated, odd-metered song. 30 seconds into it there is a spacious bridge before the song picks up the opening sophisticate for Clara and Maria to sing over. Weird and old feeling (say, 1920s or 40s). (8.5/10)

8. "Cerchi" (4:03) spacious piano notes open this song and remain the dominant (and alone) in a Erik Satie kind of way for over a minute. IN the second minute the vibes join in--though the two instruments almost feel as if they are playing in two different universes. At 2:30 bass and drums and horns join in and everything gels into a beautiful classic jazz, Bill Evans-like sounding song. (9/10)

9. "Hey Weirdo! (4:42) creative and quirky in a Gabor Humble Vörös/HUMBLE GRUMBLE song. (8.75/10)

10. "Stratification (2:51) stepping into a stacato syncopated vibes and keys funk tune there is a little bit of Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and even David Bowie feel to this song. (9/10)

11. "Wonder And Delusion (7:37) opens with a stage sounding male voice singing in a plaintive, theatric voice for the first minute. Clara takes over at the one minute mark as a hypnotically pulsing horn section fast-pulses a single note from the background. Vibes and cymbols play within the weave. At 2:10 Maria joins in as Clara moves up an octave and Jacopo rejoins making it a beautiful West Side Story-like Broadway trio. Gorgeous. (14.5/15)

Total Time 52:00

Five stars; a minor masterpiece of wonderfully adventurous progressive rock music. Bravo, Loomings! Strasbourg rules!