BAYERN-ROCK

As with most bands of this type, it's hard to say exactly when SPARIFANKAL actually formed, but by the time their debut was released in 1976, their style had been developed, refined and ultimately left behind by their numerous psych and Kraut influences. As a result, this album in particular is only noteworthy for its chosen language/dialect of Bavarian, which sounds quite different from standard German even to the untrained ear.

While the term "commune" was used differently back them, SPARIFANKAL were definitely a collective whose catchment embraced far more members than whatever musicians happened to appear on the recording and live performances. Apparently and not surprisingly, the subject matter tilted left politically and tackled topics like rising consumerism. Unfortunately, your run of the mill free translation program does not deign to translate these titles let alone in depth lyrical content.

With a few exceptions, the style is a driving acid rock with a repetitive beat, distorted guitars and occasional woodwinds and brass. It's well if loosely played, an undistinguished cross between AMON DUUL II circa "Vive la Trance" and Jane circa "Here we Are". As such, it is only peripherally folk oriented, and the band would more fully merit that categorization on their strikingly different second album. Recommended only for musty historians with silty spectacles.