TULLY

Eclectic Prog from Australia?! Don't mind if I do! Despite the provided years for the performers here, I was confused and was convinced briefly that this, their 1970 debut, was in fact a compilation. What is immediately distinguishing Tully from the many is their use of reeds in the form of layers and layers of flute, clarinet and saxophone first heard on the epic early-Prog opener, "You Realize, You Realize". The reeds work continues strong here through vocal lines and booming percussion (psychedelic Ringo drag + jazz affectations?). Sort of calls to mind the later works of the first Mothers of Invention. I'm all about this. This is what I look for in early Prog. It's exciting and well-performed. We enter the bucolic in "La Nave Bleu", quieted acoustic guitar strumming met with flute and what I assume to be accordion (though, here, uncredited). Really lovely stuff. Melancholic, wanting, but beautiful.

We're into some melodrama on "Do You Ever Think of Nothing", and I'm not gonna lie, with the Wurlitzer (or uhhh... Leslie?) organ sound, my mind went to soap operas. Around minute 1, the track dips in full swing (truly swinging). Interesting Bri'ish-ish vocals--I mean something I'd expect from Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band--over organ and rolling, playful drums, and the absurdity ensues. This is starkly juxtaposed by "The Sun is Shining". We return to apparent melancholy on a low and slow rhythm, with piano accompaniment under flute lead. If anything, this was reminiscent to me of Procol Harum. It's sweet and balladic. The perfect apparently-post-Psychedelic lilt. Sincerely splendid.

With "Love's White Dove", I think we just got taken to church! Of course, church-ready organ and hymnic vocal styling aside, we have the image of a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit in the gospels. As an apparent second verse comes in, so too does a fuller instrumentation with triumphant drumming. In its latter half, we are greeted with an assembly of choral voices. Lovely. I can't say no to this! haha. Solo piano starts off (and finishes out) our next track, "The Paradise of Perfect Silence", classically poised, again, much like Procol Harum, no? I think this is a pretty nicely constructed album, really [It was clear this early on, they really purposefully packaged these tracks]. Onto the next, we are back in Music Hall on "Sleepy Read Hed" (a nice little tongue-in-cheek misspelling, eh?). I'm a sucker for this sort of thing, since being a young fan of Paul McCartney's classic, if not schlocky, cabaret, Music Hall and Vaudeville devotions. I think this placement of this upbeat, classic feel makes the haunt and eeriness of the next, "Phssssst", all the more effective. Organ drones on... It's spacy, in the sort of way that you might ponder that space itself, in its emptiness and mystery, is actually quite frightening. This longwinded interlude then runs right into another optimistic song, but in very different feel: "Love". It's a fitful title. Organ rolls around and flute, too, swirls in a sort of uneasy manner, I suppose purposefully carefree, like that very love itself.

And then, we jam out on "Lace Space", a quirky, jazzy drum solo. Our drummer, Robert Taylor, is certainly one of the most talented musicians of the bunch. I've been quite impressed. Toward the end, there's some weird shimmerings of... something else going on. It's alien and bizarre. Well done. Especially for 1970! A surprise highlight for me. Up next, we return suddenly to quietness on "You Are the World". I thought it might be yet another solo instrument (here, piano) track, but around minute 1, we get more and more. Drums roll about, as he do, and flute comes in. Then we get some lovely vocals. I'm living for this one. Genuinely, a well constructed album made by pure, honest Procol Harum devotees (at least, I don't know what else it would be). This runs perfectly into "Just About Time", a fun Psychedelic number that feels like a different kind of callback. It's playful and youthful. I don't "know what [he] mean[s]", but I feel I want to. This is fantastic Proto-Prog.

Onto the final track, it's "Waltz to Understanding", starting with solo single-note organ. It slowly builds into chords and it feels like we're back in church. I feel this should appeal to fans of The Nice. That classical, post-Psych thing drawn out for longer than 6 minutes. Not a huge fan of this one for an album closer, but then... The version I'm listening to ends with "Yesterday", which I wasn't sure was but was then revealed to be a cover of the classic Beatles tune. It just took a bit of time to get to that point [the vocals, that is]. This is clearly moreso demo material, being a bit lo-fi. I certainly don't need this version to exist, but here we are haha.

True Rate [barely rounded up from] 3.5/5.0

It's good Proto-Prog, really. And definitely, definitely for fans of Procol Harum. What? Did I mention them 3 or 4 times here or something?...