FRUMPY 2

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With this second album, Frumpy strikes big and even bigger. Already, the debut album having sold in respectable amounts (partly due to their superb gimmix cover, this fully unfoldable round plastic artwork was even more impressive, but here the music on the wax slice was altogether more satisfying than on their previous effort. One must say that now Frumpy is a quintet , and Key-man JJ Kravetz gets a very helpful hand from newcoming guitarist Rainer Baumann. The sound is much more even and fuller, allows more less repetition and the solos are thankfully shorter.

Only four tracks on here ranging from 7:30 to 12 min+ and a more dramatic feel with Rumpf's impressive (but not always very feminine - in a positive way) vocals, a still dominating organ (Kravetz was not give room that easy) and a lyrical guitar, the whole thing underlined by Carsten Bohn' excellent drumming. In early 70's Germany, Frumpy were close to the top in every musician polls with Kraan. With a relative basic (compared to what's coming up) riff, Good Winds is an annunciation of things to come, but clearly a poor (but relative, giving the quality of the whole album) start to an otherwise excellent album. Sometimes sounding like Uriah Heep (Kravetz's play is similar to Hensley in many ways, but he gets more freedom than Ken), this track is interrupted by a quiet church organ-like atmosphere before building slow crescendo returning to the energetic riffing from the start, but it is damn well taking a lot of meanders. The sometimes Spanish-sounding Gypsy Was Born is a full-blown track, that could be considered an epic if it was slightly longer. With passages sometimes reminding of Beatles's Walrus track, Rumpf's vocals sounding like a primal-screaming Lennon.

Opening the second side, is the shorter Illusions, here Rumpf and the band sounds more like Affinity's only album, meaning that the track has also a bluesier and psychier feel. The c entral section is simply a pure joy. The album closes on a real killer-track, the lenghty Duty, where all five shine on a cloudless day, burning holes through your eardrums and frying your mind with their delightfully energetic prog rock.

Kravetz will then leave the group for obscure reasons, but will be back in time halfway in the recording of their third album which is called BTW and has a double KB attack - Erwin Kania, the leader of now defunct but superb Murphy Blend) and somehow destroying the balance of this album. This was to be their last studio album (a posthumous live release will be released), but part of the group will form the more mainstream Atlantis. As far as this album is concerned, this is Frumpy's peak and in this album, they are not to be outdone by any other powerful band.

This is classic rock with subtle progressive touches for friendly & catchy compositions. This second album is perfectly achieved technically speaking, with kick ass guitars, propulsive Hammond Organs and astonishing, powerfully emotional vocals. "Good Winds" starts as a crazy freak'n roll song and continues on a brilliant melodic "trip" with a mesmerizing keyboard demonstration. "Take care of Illusion" is a dense, furious heavy rocking song with solid guitar riffs and a great bluesy soul; It's kinda heavy in a sense ever developped by bands as Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster..."Duty" is a fragile emotional ballad with high class vocals, gorgeous guitar solos. "How the gipsy was born" reaches the whole album with an absolutely punchy, sensitive heavy rock song. This album is quite charming but I regret the classic rock "radio station" feeling on a few titles. However it remains highly recommended for progressive rock collectors.

4.5 stars.This review goes out to my friend Tom Ozric who took the news of Hugh Hopper's death pretty hard.Tom's a bass player himself and has conversed with Hugh in the past and is obviously a big fan.Keep your chin up buddy! Most hail this album as FRUMPY's best,the guitar and organ along with Inga's vocals make this one amazing album.This record consists of only four songs.Inga has such a charismatic voice and apparently she had an unbelieveable stage presence.She says herself that she was the first woman to wear leather pants and play electric guitar on stage.I should note that according to the "Gepr" site she won the award for Germany's biggest talent from this newspaper called "FAZ".And FRUMPY was voted rock band of the year by "Music Express". "Good Winds" sounds so good early on with those great sounding guitar leads and organ runs as the drums beat away.Vocals and a dreamy FLOYD-like soundscape take over quickly.When the vocals stop the guitar becomes the focus before 3 1/2 minutes, then it calms right down to almost silence.It's building slowly with some nice bass and organ.Vocal melodies join in.Incredible sound! The guitar starts to light it up 8 minutes in then that dreamy section from earlier returns.Nice. "How The Gypsy Was Born" was apparently their signature song.Organ dominates early.Vocals a minute in.This riff comes and goes.Love the guitar before 3 1/2 minutes.Outstanding! The tempo picks up after 5 minutes as the guitar and organ lead the way.Vocals return too.Another killer track. "Take Care Of Illusion" has this intense intro with vocals.It settles before a minute then kicks back in.The vocals are passionate.She's amazing. It settles again as contrasts continue.I like the way it builds with vocals 4 minutes in ,then the guitar rips it up.Check out the guitar/vocal interplay around 6 1/2 minutes. "Duty" opens with what sounds like mellotron as reserved vocals join in.A full sound arrives before a minute.The guitar is lighting it up.Some ripping organ follows as drums pound away.The tempo picks up after 3 minutes and then they simply jam until the vocals return before 11 minutes. This is very close to a 5 star album for me and i highly recommended it.

Sounding like a psychedelic reincarnation of blues legend Bessie Smith, the blazing vocal power of Inga Rumpf sets the stage for this 1971 blues / rock blowout. Grooving through 4 intense and rather lengthy compositions that meld the fire and passion of the blues with traits of the UK progressive rock movement, Frumpy' s second LP, simply titled 2, is arguably their finest.

Somewhat detatched from the freaky sounds that were materializing in the communes and basement bars that were associated with the underground Krautrock scene in their homeland of West Germany in the early seventies there is a marked American R&B tendancy here. This can be largely attributed to vocalist Rumpf's affections for early female blues artists as well as the music of Elvis Presley but what really makes Frumpy 2 jive is the unremitting chemistry that flows between the individual players. Unlike some of the abstract studio jams of contemporaries such as Amon Duul II there is more consonance here and one doesn't have to be tripped out on LSD to appreciate these exuberant compositions that can be melodic, ferocious and sublime while sustaining a meaningful flow.

Solid Hammond Organ power chordings from Jean-Jacques Kravetz lay the foundation for the 4 pieces which have often been compared to UK contemporaries such as Uriah Heep and Deep Purple but have more parallells to the uniquitous organ work of Peter Hecht on Lucifer's Friend's eponymous debut . Fiery Hendrixy electric guitar flourishes from Rainer Baumann colour the four intense pieces and bond well with the Hammond substructures and are the only suggestions of Krautrock predelictions. A noticeable common pattern becomes evident on the record by the beginning of side two that gives the band a two dimensional quality with Rumpf's vocals bookending the adventurous instrumental sections often joining and accenting them with effectual wordless vocalizations.

In spite of the rather straightforward playing and musicianship on two cosmic blues rave ups Take care Of Illusion and How The Gypsy Was Born ( no John McLaughlins or Rick Wakemans here ), the band's energy and execution are impeccable and atone for any lack of musical profoundness. The latter, How The Gypsy Was Born attainied moderate success as a cut down single version on the German charts during the spring of '71. More musical and compositional exploration takes place on the other two pieces Good Winds and Duty which appropriately open and close the album respectively. Even more depth is created by interpolating some classical organ themes, the most notable being the Bach fugue at the conclusion of Duty which also features some groovy Hammond / guitar interplay and a blistering guitar freakout by Baumann. The album opener, Good Winds ( which should have been placed at the conclusion ) has the potential for a side long epic with it's dreamy lyrics that unite the Earth & universe with Rumpf stepping out of character with the rest of the album providing some spectral vocals on this ethereal piece that rivals anything from Annie Halsam or Sonja Kristina of British bands Renaissance and Curved Air.

A long lost classic confined to the vaults and dusty old vinyl collections prior to being resurrected by the age of the compact disc, perhaps the only qualm I have with Frumpy 2 is the track sequence and this is easily solved with the CD format. After listening to this blast from the past one can only wonder why Frumpy did not attain more international acclaim. So put the cat out, strap yourself into the ejection seat and crank this jewel from the glorious seventies to eleven.