GHEDE CHOKRA'S

According to Shadoks' reissue this Indonesian band from the city of Bandung was formed in 1970, but its leader, singer and guitarist Benny Soebardja has stated they were found by him and keyboardist Soman Loebis in 1972.Both were previously playing with the Pop band The Peels, which they left in search for a more adventurous sound.Soebardja had registered at the Agriculture Faculty of the Bandung University at the time, while Loebis was a student at the local Institute of Technology.Recruting Bhagu Ramchand on vocals, Sammy Zakaria on drums/vocals and Janto Diablo on vocals/bass/flute they recorded one private-pressed album, ''Ghede chokra's'', which reputedly came out in only 100 copies, pretty reasonable, when you see these four-digit bucks spent by collectors on auctions.

Of course the music on the album isn't worth its outlandish price, on the other hand Shark Move moved far away from the syrupy style of The Peels to offer a well-played Psych/Prog with Heavy Rock and light symphonic overtones, dominated by the electric guitars and organ and sung mostly in English, a standard value for 70's Indonesian Rock groups.The vocals though are an acquired taste, they are delivered in high-octanes and sound pretty irritating and melodramatic, often connecting nicely to the music, but sounding a bit pretentious at times.Regarding the instrumental parts, the album offers a semi-progressive, semi-heavy Psychedelic Rock with good keyboard parts and occasional bursting electric textures, complemented by acoustic flourishes and some tasteful, melancholic flutes.It lacks the true progressive spirit, but at least the material is quite enganging with ballads, rockin' fields, muddy instrumentals and some complicated themes characterizing the arrangements.The production sounds pretty cloudy, but the blistering guitar moves are pretty amazing plus Loebis' keyboard work is consistent and solid.The rhythm section is typical of such a band, confident and supportive from the first to the very last minute.There are even some light jamming sections in the process, but ''Evil war'' surfaces as a real winner here, featuring electroacoustic passages, an excellent rockin' atmosphere and great organ waves, despite the 60's Pop-sounding vocals.

Shark Move disbanded the following year, after Loebis died unexpectedly in a car accident.Soebardja and Zakaria later formed the great Heavy Proggers Giant Step, the first album of which is a masterpiece of Indonesian Prog.

Decent Psych Prog from the unknown islands of Eastern Asia.A bit dated as a whole, but played with energy, passion and love for the sport.Not a fan of the melodramatic vocals, but I find the instrumental work pretty great.Recommended, legit CD and LP reissues out by Shadoks.

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