TRANSISTER

I've been waiting for a long time for this band to be included here in the archives and I'm glad they're finally here because I feel this could be of interest to a lot of people around here. Transister was founded by Robert Jan Stips which you might know as keyboardist and lead vocalist of dutch band Supersister, Zig Zag remains their only album released in 1979. The album also came out in 2000 as a 2CD split release including Robert's solo album from 81' called U.P. There are 10 songs in the original album, the 2000 edition adds 3 more tracks combining a 7 inch single from 1980 and one more unreleased track. Anyone looking for anything remotely close to Supersister will be disappointed since the music here is nothing like the canterbury inspired prog of Supersister, the only resemblance between these bands is humor and this album has plenty of it. Mr. Stips here goes for a different approach, although the songs are poppy in nature they are also highly sophisticated and clever full of quirky humor, could qualify as art rock and might appeal more to fans of 10cc and the likes. What I love about this album is actually how different it is from Supersister, out goes all the hazy psychedelic canterburish feel of the early 70's, replaced by a light, breezy, uplifting, happy and groovy licks, the playing is top notch and very tight, containing all sorts of breaks and rhythm changes, also Stips's vocals are sung with a cool staccato timing which makes the whole thing even tighter. Although Nordholt and Wijtman on bass and drums are doing a fantastic job, it's Stips that is responsible for the music, playing keys and singing, he is simply brilliant throughout, coming with all kinds of sounds and ideas.

The couple first songs are short like most of the album and gets things started right away, I remember thinking at first "man I need to get used to this kind of sound" but once you listen to what's really going on inside it's easy to get into it. The first two songs don't really prepare you for what's coming next, a 9 minute song called "Wash Your Hands Before You Touch Me" How can you resist this title? it's the most progy song on the album and Sounds to me like a tribute to Frank Zappa more than anything, fans of Zappa really should check this one out, I believe he would approve of this song. The lyrics are so cool and silly in the same time, I just love how this one is crafted, the story and the music builds perfectly together until it all comes down to the punch line "Wash Your Hands Before You Touch Me" this is priceless! Stips's work here is phenomenal. The rest continues just like how it started, the songs are a lot of fun and easy to listen to since there is so much going on all the time and yet might sound straight forward at first. Psychopath is another excellent track here which helps the diversity of the album, no drums only congas, keys, bass and violin! This is good!

Zig Zag remains a special album in my collection simply because I don't have anything that is quite like that, I like listening to it every now and then when I want something light that still keeping things interesting. I wouldn't call it a progressive rock album per se, but it is still in relevance to this genre.