ELECTRIC SANDWICH

A one-off Krautrock gem, ELECTRIC SANDWICH's eponymously-titled debut - which proved to be their only full-length offering - is a rocking, jazzy, psychedelic treat. Combining elements of Neu!, Jane, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Miles Davies and Embryo, the album kicks of in full-throttle mode with the pulsating, eight-minute-plus, driving kraut-psyche-blues epic 'China', and rarely lets up from then on, with Wolf Fabian's intense drumming driving the four-piece forward into hitherto uncharted psychdelic blues territory, complete with squawking sax, rumbling bass and screeching, angular guitar-sounds that all make for a heady, spacey-brew of styles and genre's. The similarities with Embryo(particularly their 'Rocksession' LP), are evident, but instead of being just another overlong jam band, ES manage to cook up a well-balanced blend of solid rock sounds and far-out cosmic crooning. Their failure(??), meant this was it, and considering the success of a whole host of similarly-themed Krautrock bands, it's hard to fathom why it all went so quiet. Brain Records excellent remastering job brings out their music in all it's far-out glory, and read the liner notes carefully(circa 2004), because, apparently, those Electric Sandwich boys are at it again, have reformed, played a few gigs, and now want to get another(very belated) LP out there. Who knows if it will actually happen, and who knows what it'll be like(this reviewer doesn't listen to any prog/Krautrock post 1977), but I imagine a few aficianado's will be waiting with breath baited. Despite their sadly truncated career, ES still managed to leave behind an eclectic and engergetic album filled with top-notch krautrock sounds and brimming with the stylistic invention that made the era of it's conception so fresh and exciting. Great stuff. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2009