COLOUR YOUR MIND

German band VIBRAVOID have been around for more than a decade by now, and probably well deserve the description often given them as Germany's leading progressive rock band. They have recorded their fair share of material for UK label Fruits de Mer Records over the years, and their most recent take for this vinyl specialist label is this three track single.

The A side is taken up by Colour Your Mind, originally made by a band called Tyrnaround, and in Vibravoid's take on it this one alternates between a sickly organ and guitar motif supported by sparse but effective bass and drums with a more majestic but still sickly sounding organ and dark toned guitar riff arrangement, with two nice runs of psych dripping guitar solo sequences and a concluding freaked out psych-dripping finale.

The B side kicks off with La Poupee Qui Fait Non, originally by Michel Polnareff. This one isn't quite as compelling, but a nice enough albeit somewhat monotone affair with distant, lightly effects treated vocals, careful surging effects and a dominant light toned organ combining in a 60's sounding, naive psychedelic rock oriented direction.

The second track on the B side is more impressive however. Optical Sounds, originally by Human Expression, is a much more tension filled affair. Echoing, reverberating dark toned twisted sounds that may or may not be produced by guitars in a triple layer with plucked guitar details and a psych dripping light toned guitar solo for the additional layers, with spoken like vocals and effective rhythms backdrop. A compelling arrangement that produce a suitably haunting atmosphere, with recurring instrumental inserts that sports a richer and overall more intense atmosphere further enriching the experience. A brilliant track showcasing Vibravoid at their best as far as I'm concerned, and easily the most striking piece of music on this single.

If you tend to enjoy intense psychedelic rock with a vintage sound Vibravoid is probably known to you already. If not then this single is a suitable introduction to their turf in the psychedelic rock universe, and if you like them already I suspect that this single easily merits a should buy notification.