Prog Recommendations/Featured albums - Tr-Ond and the Suburban Savages

Member: ffroyd ( http://www.progressiveears.com/forums/members/profile.asp?PeopleID=44 - Profile ) ( http://www.progressiveears.com/asp/reviewsindex.asp?PeopleID=44&PeopleNm=ffroyd - All Album Reviews by ffroyd )
Date: 1/21/2008
Format: CD (Album)

The past decade or so has seen quite a surge in creative music coming out of the country of Norway. There are many bands now playing great original material in the frozen north including names like White Willow, Wobbler, Jaga Jazzist, Magic Pie, Seid, MetroGnom, The White Birch and Panzerpappa. Speaking of Panzerpappa, the disc I’m reviewing today is from an offshoot of that band. Originally intended to be a solo album for the drummer Trond Gjellum (from where the project gets it’s interesting name), it escalated into a debut album from a full group.

Also along for the ride are Thomas Meidell (from The Samuel Jackson 5 and several others) on guitars, theremin, synth, bass and various other instruments; Hans Petter Alfredsen on keyboards; and fellow Panzerpappette Anders K. Krabberød on bass guitar and bass pedals. There are also some guest appearances on the disc. Truls Heggero (from the Truls and the Trees) helps out with some beautiful vocal bits, Jørgen Sissyfus Skjulstad contributes clarinet and Hannelive Karlsen pizzicato violin.

Since this is Trond’s project, it is fairly rhythm-dominant with lots of excellent percussion including assorted vibes and glockenspiel. There’s even some vintage drum machine sounds thrown in here and there. One unusual thing about the music is that another one of the major instruments represented here is the melodica. Trond’s playing of this unique wind keyboard makes me think it’s an accordion in several spots. I’ve heard this instrument before but never used this much on an album.

It’s not easy putting a label on the kind of music offered here, which isn’t a complaint at all. There’s a definite Scandinavian prog influence from the older bands like Kebnekajse and Fläsket Brinner but there’s also a modern approach as well. The music is mostly instrumental with a few wordless harmony vocals thrown in to make the songs a bit more melodious. There’s one song “Mother Of Time” that has vocals (presumably from Trond) that start out normal enough but evolve into something that Johnny Lydon might have belted out while in Public Image Ltd. Also there is a slight humorous element at work in a few spots here. The track “Swedish Lesson #2” will be almost no help at all unless maybe one loses their sandwich in Stockholm.

Although there aren’t any bad moments on here, my favorite tracks are probably the first and fifth on the disc. “André Malist” has some nice synth and piano parts to go along with the smooth percussion. “The Madonna Death Cult Camp” gets the album off to a great start and sets the tone for the entire project.

Overall, I would say this is a very excellent disc and would recommend it to just about anyone. There’s plenty of great music on here and while it may be a slight bit on the eccentric side, it is quite accessible. I haven’t heard much of the band Panzerpappa but if this disc is any indication of their sound, I definitely need to check them out some more.