INNER EAR BRIGADE

One of my favorite delights has returned with another album of quirky Canterbury style Jazz-Rock Fusion.

1. "Ecobio Curves" (7:40) an amazing opening song, replete with fully-developed and wonderfully-performed and - rendered musicianship including wonderful group choir vocals in the background. (14/15)

2. "Sumimasen" (6:27) dirty Fender Rhodes introduction for the first 25 seconds before other instruments join in. By the end of the first minute, the band has congealed into a beautiful tapestry of sound that are founded on a cleverly- syncopated rhythm section while a chorus of vocalists including Melody Ferris and Madeline Tasquin (and others?!) sing a wonderfully-laid back and gorgeously-melodic vocal line over the top. Then there is a funny JANE SIBERRY-like all-female greeting conversation in the middle of the second minute. How fun! This reminds me a bit of The Northettes if they were in a MICHAEL FRANKS song. Great drumming from And there really isn't a single note or moment that I don't love! One of my favorite Inner Ear Brigade songs of all-time! (10/10)

3. "Earendel" (5:52) pure vocal-less instrumental jazz rock--Yacht Rock. Nice smooth sax play by Ivor Holloway (on multiple tracks)--especially the solo during the STEELY DAN-like fourth minute. (8.75/10)

4. "Goblin Gruel Part 1" (6:19) after the harpsichord opening, this cutie-pie turns into something with a bit more retro swing style--enhanced by the dominant presence of the truly more Northettes-like female choir vocals and quirky, syncopated and quick-to-turn music. As a whole, this one is definitely reminding me of the music of Canterbury band, NATIONAL HEALTH--despite the presence of Ivor Holloway's saxophone and Theo Pavodiosiois' trumpet. (9.5/10)

5. "Muse 2 Entropy" (4:35) Ivor's clarinet and Curtis McKinney's bass open this one before drums and Melody Ferris's familiar Barbara Gaskin-like voice and style joins in duplicating the clarinet's (and piano's and viola's) melody line(s). Nice jazz of the Dave Stewart-Barbara Gaskin style. It is clever how the clarinet, piano, viola, and guitar take turns with the melody line--sometimes doubling up, sometimes just subtly switching out--all the while maintaining the same line with Melody's vocal. (8.875/10)

6. "Brood X" (6:04) a quasi-surf-and-clam bake rocker sounding like something from one of Frank Zappa's earliest albums. Jazzy like an Estradasphere Venice Beach-New Orleans Zydeco blend with ditzy-blonde vocalese (courtesy of brunette Melody Ferris). Pleasant and upbeat. (8.875/10)

7. "Perkunas" (9:27) incredibly poor sound engineering--as if someone stuck a single mike up on a stage during a live performance. The static/distortion allowed on the Fender Rhodes during the long, boring introduction is criminally bad. Melody Ferris' voice has never sounded/felt so frail. A kind of clunky, bull-in-a-china shop construct. (17.25/20)

Total Time 48:12

A-/five stars; my favorite Inner Ear Brigade album since their 2012 debut, a minor masterpiece of modern Canterbury Style jazz-rock music. Highly recommended to all prog lovers--especially if you like Canterbury or Jazz-Rock Fusion.

INNER EAR BRIGADE were a young band when they formed in Oakland, California back in 2005 releasing an EP called "Belly Brain" that same year. It wouldn't be until 2012 that they would release their first studio album "Rainbro". I would describe that debut as having avant leanings, but it was far from being difficult music. Here we are five years later with the followup "Dromology" and those avant touches are all but gone. This is more streamlined, more accessible. Even the female vocals have gone from that THINKING PLAGUE, Susanne Lewis-like style to more normal sounding.

This just isn't as interesting in my opinion. Sure we get some good old prog rock played at a high level but those are a dime a dozen. I just don't connect with this 2017 release. Having said that I did enjoy, right from that first listen the opener "Dark Sleep Fortress", more of this please! A nice heavy sound to it with a couple of good instrumental sections, horns too. The title track is the only other song that comes close to it. At nine minutes it's the longest piece, but this one is more in the jazz style, especially early on and later.

I hope we get another release from this band, very talented. Half of the six piece lineup left before the second record, with leader Bill Wolter, singer Melody Ferris and horn player Ivor Holloway left standing here.

3.5 stars. INNER EAR BRIGADE are a six piece band from Oakland, California who have released two studio albums so far. They are led by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bill Wolter who composed the music here. "Rainbro" is one of the best album titles I've seen for a while, makes me laugh. This is their debut from 2012 and in my opinion slightly better than the followup "Dromology" from 2017.

If you add in the guests we get up to 15 performers on here, and a lot of variety when it comes to sounds. Avant works for sure and even the female vocals help with that as they come across in a similar style to Deborah Perry and Elaine Di Falco from THINKING PLAGUE. You know, that mono- toned style, but this girl here has a much sweeter voice and is not on their level. The music also just isn't on the level of THINKING PLAGUE, but then few bands are.

A real jazz vibe on here too with all the horns, and even canterbury at times. I just find this inconsistent but when they are "on" I am so impressed. The opener "Knee" is so catchy followed by "Oom Pah" where we get a disco/funk mix and yes it's terrible. If you like the first two tracks, you'll love this album. It's not until the third track "Missing The Train" where I'm nodding in approval, and the mellotron brings some much needed warmth. "Rainbro" is a great song with the mellotron and how about the chaotic and powerful instrumental sections.

Love the canterbury vibe on "Forgotten Planet", and the closer "25 Miles To Freedom" is the other highlight. This one is the longest at over 10 minutes. Not big on the viola late but overall an outstanding piece. Interesting that this final song has more then half the guests on. Not surprisingly my top four are the only ones with mellotron in them.

An entertaining record that is fun, playful and catchy, but it's not without it's complexities and challenges.

3.5 stars for sure

Second offer Dromology released in 2017, is a natural follow up to excellent Rainbro. Inner Ear Brigade really done it with the debut and this second album is quite as good as previous one. The attitude remaining the same , avant prog with jazzy interplays the perfect example is the excellent opening Dark Sleep Fortress, and the pieces flow perfectly. Nice female vocals made by Melody Ferris with tenacious sax playing combined with groovy guitar parts and great mellotron arrangements in the mix. So, all around this is fairly good towards great release, I kinda like the debut more, but this desearves attention aswell. Intresting art work for sure and all package , 3.5 stars for this one, I think will be ranked among the most intresting albums of the avant prog scene in last couple of years.

It's been five years since the wonderful Rainbro but this little gem makes the wait all worthwhile. A little heavier and more serious this time around but the compositional skill and instrumental performances have improved a notch (as if that were possible!)

1. "Dark Sleep Fortress" (6:40) opens the album with a heavier but still avant sound that is fully recognizable for people who are familiar with their previous album, Rainbro. The band is thick and tight! Forgot how much I like these horns and the voice of Melody Ferris. Nice keyboard solo and horn section work in the final two minutes. Unfortunately, the bass line here just gets too old--not enough movement and variation. (8/10)

2. "Black And White Taste" (5:56) avant in a math rock almost THINKING PLAGUE way. Almost feels like a study in whole-band (even vocal) weave using odd time signatures. I have to admit that I don't like it when Melody's voice is used in this way. Great bass, sax, and electric piano work. (8/10)

3. "Shaman Coin Toss" (6:51) nice opening with lots of fast-paced whole-band movement. Almost HAIRCUT ONE HUNDRED energy here. Melody's voice brings us back to solid ground (in a good way) before the horns and fast- play and changes take us in other directions--many! And moving so fast! This is fun! The 1960s Bay Area-style electric solo is unfortunate; turns me off. Piano section is nice, simple, a surprising twist--coupled with a softer side of Melody. FROGG CAFÉ comes to mind here. As with some of the previous album, the mid-song tempo and stylistic changes are a bit mystifying. Still, a pretty amazing composition. (9/10)

4. "Bobotut" (6:12) bouncy, upbeat multi-thread weave with instrument-like vocals mirrored by sax and other horns throughout. Part NORTH SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA, part Astrud & João Gilberto. Gorgeous! Maybe my favorite song on the album! (9.5/10)

5. "Dromology" (8:55) love the winding rondo weave of the separated horns on this with Melody's long drawn out singing notes. (9/10)

6. "Targa Floria" (4:22) horns, repeated electric guitar riff, and Fender Rhodes-like keys fill the opening before the horn section starts doing its magic in several weaves. This is all multi-layered instrumental jazz--a very intricate composition very tightly performed. The horns in the mid-section and second half are quite nostalgic in a BURT BACHARACH-kind of way. A top three for me. (9.5/10)

7. "Birdie In The Wall" (6:57) awesome big-band kind of opening turns into a more intricate staccato weave with Melody Ferris's smooth torch song vocal playing over the top. The second section gives this almost a SWING OUT SISTER sound. I love it! Such a great, smooth song! Definitely another top three song for me. (9.5/10)

The further I get into the album I keep wondering why this wonderful bass player did what he did in the opening song.

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music. There's a little feeling of the genius of HOMUNCULUS RES here.

COS and STEREOLAB comingled and recorded for the first time!

Just kidding. This album is, however, for our times, quite unusual. At first I thought it "cute" and "interesting" but as I've given it many more listens I hear so much of two of my favorite "recent" or rather late in life joy-bringing discoveries in Canterbury styled music (of which there is so little coming out in the 21st Century) and, more specifically, the music of the unique Belgian group, COS. Actually, if you took 1970s COS and 2000 STEREOLAB you would have INNER EAR BRIGADE. Vocalist Melody Ferris sounds stylistically a bit like Kitchen Thieves' AMY DARBY or Thinking Plague's ELAINE DI FALCO, though the PASCALE SON (COS) and LAETITIA SADIER (STEREOLAB) comparisons are unavoidable. And these guys are from West Coast USA! This is an album of pure joy and fun. Even the extended jazz grooves with their serious and accomplished horn play and solos are fun. The opener, "Knee," is such an ear catcher! Sounds a bit like an ELVIS COSTELLO song as it might be performed by STEREOLAB. "Oomph" has some KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND riffs and influence as well as feeling like some of FROGG CAFE's most CHICAGO-ishness. "Missing the Train" feels a lot like a song coming from the 1960s Brazilian-influenced period of U.S. pop jazz. "Rainbro," perhaps my least favorite song on the album, has more of a "bland" Stereolab feel to it--the melodies and chord changes are not quite as catchy as other songs--though I love the final 30 seconds. "Too Good to Be True" has some social-political commentary like that commonly found in Stereolab songs as well as some nice XTC-like jazz guitar sound/work. "Somnambulist Subversion" uses two long-out-dated instrumental effects: the cheesy synth and the ragged distortion strum of a punk-like guitar that begin the song. Once voice, horns and percussives, tuned and untuned, join in, the song takes on a more early Elvis Costello sound and feel. "Nutjob is an instrumental that begins in a tight Canterbury fashion: whole band chord staccato progression before settling down into a pleasant kind of jazz beat to support trade off solos from horns, Farfisa organ & crazy synths, distorted and jagged guitars, tuned percussives. "Forgotten Planet" is my favorite. It begins with flute and tight Stereolab-like rhythm bass with vocalist Melody Ferris's scatting Pascale Son (COS)-like. Wonderful Canterbury song! "Dirty Spoons" begins with an acoustic guitar playing an arpeggiated chord sequence that is just heart-wrenchingly beautiful. Bandleader Bill Wolter is gradually joined by the rhythm section, keyboards and horns--which take over the presentation of the melodies on this awesome instrumental. Parts have an almost Acid Jazz feel to it, only without the house downbeat. Another favorite. "25 Miles to Freedom" is notable for both its length (10:31) and its different jazz beat--like a kletzmer-meets-Philip-Glass or like the 1988 Pat Metheny-Steve Reich collaboration on "Different Trains." Melody Ferris's jazzy vocals aren't quite as warm or alluring on this one--and actually make it obvious that on this particular song it's the instrumental sections that are the standouts--like the violin, sax, and vibraphone trio in the seventh minute, or the STEELY DAN-like sax solo in minute number eight. My favorite songs in which Melody's voice shine are the wordless "Forgotten Planet," "Missing The Train," "Oompah," "Knee," and "Rainbro."

The more I listen to this album, in a variety of locations, the more I think that this is, in fact, a masterpiece of progressive rock music. (My favorite listening venue thus far has been in the car, uninterrupted highway driving.) This could be slightly tainted by the fact that the album gets better and better with each song, but could be also because I am so craving upbeat, happy prog--kind of like what we lost with the fadeout of the Canterbury Scene.

4.5 stars rated up for clean brilliant fun and for resurrecting the refreshing, jazzy, Canterbury sound.

Inner Ear Brigade is a ayoung american prog band who just releases their first album named Rainbro not long ago at italian label Altrock. Very nice surprise this album , it sounds quite avant prog to me with some jazzy moments here and there, with some great moments like on opening track Knee, Oomp Pah , Missing the train or the longest track 25 Miles to Freedom with nice female vocals made by Melody Ferris with tenacious sax playing by Ivor Holloway combined with groovy guitar parts and great mellotron arrangements in the mix, very nice overall. Not a bad moment here, even the cover art is great so a winner to my ears, a new album that desearves attention. Similarities maybe at some point with Laser Pace and their excellent Granfaloon or Megan Quartet in places. 4 stars, fresh and exciting album.