CHRONOMETERS

This is a compilation of unreleased material that was recorded around 1975-1976. On the Wayside Music site they descibe this record as THE MUFFINS most Canterburian. As Syzygy suggests this is an excellent place for someone to check out how this band sounds. Bands that came to mind were HATFIELD AND THE NORTH, NATIONAL HEALTH, Frank Zappa and HENRY COW.

The album opens with the 23 minute title track. I'm not a big fan of the intro but it's very short, and when the melody arrives before a minute i'm hooked. Love the sound. The song changes so often though,which is part of it's charm. Clarinet leads the way for a while. Sax and guitar are up next before 4 minutes. A calm 8 minutes in as we get samples from a movie? that ends in a funny way 10 1/2 minutes in. Some fuzz before 11 minutes as a strong psychedelic flavour comes in. Some nice guitar and piano follows. Funny Zappa-like vocals say "Travelling through time is not such a hot way to go." Tempo starts to pick up briefly then flute joins in. The song stops dead 16 minutes in and when it comes back it sounds like we're listening to a bunch of drunks at a party. Haha. Music plays in the background. Drums then xylophone 18 minutes in. Total chaos 19 1/2 minutes in. Violin follows. What a journey that was. "Come What Molten Cloud" features violin and light drums. Keys and bass are also prominant. "Apparently" is a cool, jazzy tune with clarinet, light drums and some nice guitar. The next song is less then a minute of some great uptempo music that blends into "Please Do Not Open Dr.Fischer" where sax, bass and guitar shine.

"The Manilla Robots" is a funny instrumental of drums, clarinet, fuzzed out guitar and sax all taking part. "Joe Crop On A Toxic Planet" opens with lots of dissonance. It does calm down though as we even get some aboe. A change before 3 minutes as it turns into an uptempo guitar / drum driven tune. Violin 4 1/2 minutes in as it blends into "The Bush" an uptempo tune with flute, light drums, keys and guitar leading the way. The next five songs are all under 2 minutes. Then we get "Three Days That Won't Soon Fade" a very humerous story about a detective. The Zappa spirit lives here. Excellent piano to end it. "You Eat Them Pears" features piano, guitar, drums, clarinet, sax, flute and harmonica as the tempo shifts. "Peacocks, Leopards And Glass" is a relaxing tune that I like a lot. "Crezner OK" has a mellow intro with liquid keys. It changes quickly though as violin, bass and drums lead the way. It calms back down with some sax 2 minutes in. Nice. Keys and especially guitar standout a minute later. "Blind Cave Terta" is a mellow song with intricate sounds and some spacey ones as well. It become volitile 2 minutes in. "Evening Hataiya" is a jazzy little tune. Violin a minute in. "L" opens with some fine guitar playing before a jazzy climate takes over.

I really like this kind of music, these guys can really play. Although there may be lots of shorter tracks, they often blend into each other without me even knowing. Excellent release.