ECCO L'IMPERO DEI DOPPI SENSI

One of the very few Italian Canterbury jazz bands sitting in a small club with Picchio dal Pozzo, The Winstons and Instant Curtain, HOMUNCULUS RES has been more productive than any of its competitors by sticking it out for over a decade now and has successfully released five bonafide studio albums. These Sicilian chaps have taken pride in resurrecting the lesser tread upon universe of English Canterbury Jazz and has successfully integrated the Italian language into an otherwise very non-Italian art form.

ECCO L'IMPERO DEI DOPPI SENSI (Here Is The Empire Of Double Meanings) finds the band in fine form cranking out its knotty progressive rock compositions flavored with Canterbury textures a la influential bands such as Soft Machine, Hatfield & The North as well as fellow Italians Picchio dal Pozzo but also capturing a more liberal sense of compositional freedom with Zappa-esque improv as well as a stronger emphasis on melodies that seem to take inspiration form the classic symphonic Italian prog greats ranging from PFM and Banco to Arti & Mestieri. ECCO features a new batch of ten tracks that excel at crafting an instantly infectious connection laced with all those proggy hairpin turns that screams sophistication!

What's new here? Well i'm detecting some serious Stereolab grooves in many sections of ECCO. The middle track "Fine Del Mondo" feels right out of the Stereolab playbook with a Kraut inspired grooviness all decorated with jazzy regalia. Lots of Beatle-esque harmonies in jazz-pop form also find their way into much of the playing time of this new release. A noticeably warm and fuzzy album, ECCO features not only the five members playing the usual rock instrumentation but also includes a whopping 15 guest musicians and vocalists to give the album a larger than life feel.

Laced with a series of ever-changing ideas teased into instantly likable melodic constructs. HOMUNCULUS RES has developed a keen sense of taking pop-infused melodies and twisting them into a digestible prog format which works quite well indeed. Somehow the band has with apparent ease mastered the technique of accessible Canterbury complexities something that requires a major musical mastery which is perhaps why so few dare to tread the sacred Canterbury Scene stomping grounds. Another amazing accomplishment is how well this band has integrated the Italian language into the Canterbury rhythmic flow which is a successful hybridizing effect that sounds closer to the actually classic Canterbury of the 70s even more so than Picchio dal Pozzo.

This new album is actually very fun as it features a bouncy rock that really connects me to the 70s although it doesn't sound anything like other Canterbury bands. The vocals remind me of Pink Floyd or Alan Parsons Project a lot although in Italian. This is one of those joyful almost celebratory albums that excels in the Canterbury whimsical traditions of previous decades. Sicily is a lucky place for having spawned such a wonderful band that has taken England's least tread upon niche of jazz-rock to its own little world of its making. Also at only 50 minutes of playing time it's not too long as albums can be these days. It's very retro in many regards but also feels fresh and updated for the new millennium. Not a masterpiece but an excellent slice of unorthodox Canterbury jazz prog.