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McChurch Soundroom - Delusion CD (album) cover

DELUSION

McChurch Soundroom

 

Krautrock

3.59 | 57 ratings

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Sean Trane
Special Collaborator
Prog Folk
3 stars 3.5 stars really!!!

This solo album is a bit of a UFO in Switzerland's early 70's skies, with this quintet that produced an early 70's UK proto prog, somewhere stuck between Ten Years After's progressive blues rock, but these guys were Alemanic Swiss (except for "McChurch" their singer that is Italian-Swiss) and had a fairly close feeling to Munich's Out Of Focus as well. Actually their sole album was released on the rare ultra-small Pilz label in 72, which contributes to a lot of this album legendary status of ultra-collectible, a reputation that very few albums live to, but there will be no Delusion with this one. 3Graced with a sinister skull & candlewax gatefold artwork (rather unfitting with the music inside), this album has six (sort of) tracks (three aside), but only three of them are sung, all of them recorded in a Hamburg studio, during which the sessions were interrupted by the local police.

Opening the album, the title track is jumping out directly at you with the flute and acoustic guitar strums, gradually picking up, much like OOF would, not least the opening verse sounding if Moran had sung it. As the track unfolds, the music gradually slides towards TYA, (due in no small part to the guitarist's style, often reminiscent of Alvin Lee), before returning to the opening plan. Dream Of a Drummer is (you guessed it!! ;o))) plagued by a long drum solo, but it's first part is very much in the TYA fold with a fast riff and good solo guitar, before falling in the drum trap (the solo is reminiscent of Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda), before and guitar and bass call and response, a bit like TYA jamming in concert (see the third side of Recorded Live), before resuming the raunchy riff. It could've been much worse. Time Is Flying is the wordiest track of them all, but it doesn't move from OOF's Wake Up and TYA's Cricklewood Green sonic realm. Great Stuff.

The flipside continues in the same sonic universe with What You Are Doing, where the organ is taking a bit more space, though. A very nice descending riff, again reminiscent of OOF with the TYA solos (except for the flute which is more OOF than TYA ;o))). The closing two tracks are part of the same Trouble track, an ideal space for a disguised jam with the superb flute, bass drum guitar jazzy theme. Again nothing very new, reminiscent of early TYA (Undead). Too bad the B-side is noticeably shorter than the A-side, because they could've fit another normal track on it, but as the Double Trouble jam track shows, they might've short on ideas at the time.

Don't be misled by the sinister artwork of the album, the music inside is actually relatively thrilling and enthralling, although it is nothing really original either. Hardly essential or groundbreaking, but worth owning as second-line genre beefing-up-your-collection.

Sean Trane | 3/5 |

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