FANTASTIC DREAMER

TCP's ambitious follow-up

Temporal Chaos Project is an American band who formed in the early part of 2008, and features Henry Tarnecky (vocals, keys), Blake Tobias (keys, bass), and Jack Wright (guitars, drums). The multi-talented players also credit some guest musicians on their albums. They state that for the time being this is a studio project, time will tell if they decide to play live. Given the talents of the players it would be great to see them on the road. Listening to TCP brought many bands to mind and to keep it interesting I avoided reading other people's reviews so I could see how my impression compared. I was originally struck by the vocalist sounding like Roger Chapman of Family. I heard bits and pieces of both Supertramp and Supergrass, along with some Marillion and Galahad of "Empires Never Last" era. This is high quality art rock which features superb musicianship on all levels, and creates an experience which should appeal to those seeking pleasing accessible rock and those who thrill on exceptional playing.

The album begins with heavy guitar riffs, ominous sounding, as we are introduced to Tarnecky's commanding, theatrical vocal presence. The crunching first track is more an explosive introduction leading to the more subtle and gorgeous "In the Movie of You" with its lovely piano, and a very neat little guitar wrap at the end of vocal lines that sounds just like a Gilmour lick from The Wall. "Devotee" is where they go all Supergrass with a bouncy piano pop and catchy-as-hell chorus, or annoying, if catchy choruses aren't your thing. "Ambiance for the Active Mind" finds itself meandering through sleepy, then aggressive spacey corridors of Steve Wilson-esque leads of the Signify days, Wright is a great player. After that the middle section (tracks 5-7) lags significantly for me, with compositions that range from needlessly grandiose to a bit muddy to plain boring at various turns. But then "Fantastic Dreamer" recovers with the solid closer "Vision." Were Davies and Hodgson singing the piece it could almost fit naturally onto a mid 70s Supertramp album quite nicely. The keys build the piece up beautifully and the lead guitar work is explosive yet tasteful. Great track.

"Fantastic Dreamer" overall is a quality slab of eclectic/crossover which should appeal to many modern prog fans. Not quite 4 stars for this listener but adorned with impressive moments and pleasant surprises.

US band TCP was formed back in 2008, when fellow musicians Tarnecky, Tobias and Wright encountered one another on the internet. The threesome discovered that their personal chemistry was good and decided to have a go at becoming a studio based band-project. This chemistry seems to be at a good level too, as they had their debut album "The Way" issued the year after. In the spring of 2011 the follow-up "Fantastic Dreamer" appeared, and as with their initial effort it was issued by the US enthusiast label 10t Records.

While harnessing compositional and instrumental details from an extensive palette, TCP's second album "Fantastic Dreamer" is one that typically should find most favor amongst those who enjoy bands like Marillion, Genesis and Pink Floyd: Rich keyboard arrangements, the occasional Mellotron insert, some piano motifs and even the good old harpsichord in tight, harmonic interplay with guitars of the gentler variety and on a few occasions dampened riff constructions. Nice and nifty instrumental parts, including quite a few excursions into Gilmour-inspired landscapes courtesy of the guitar solo, while the lead vocals should be to the satisfaction of those who prefer Fish's and Peter Gabriel's take on the lead vocalist assignment. If this sounds enticing, TCP is a band you'll want to explore.