CONCRETE LIGHT

Note: There is a digital version of this album available that is only 6 tracks long - the seventh track (Belldrummer Mother[%*!#]er) is not on it. This is the version of the album I shall be reviewing.

Psychadelic/Space rock is one of the harder genres for me to write reviews of because a lot of my favorite albums in the genre are actually rather similar in sound. Ultimately what it comes down to is that sometimes a band does it right, and sometimes they do it wrong, but it's easy for a review to come down to, "Oh, I like this song and I like that song" - something that is rarely informative in helping others determine whether or not they too will like the album.

But man, I love every single song on this album. And its rating pretty much rides exclusively on that one fact.

The music here is (as expected) drums bass guitar keys, and vocals on some tracks. We've got just the right amount of distortion, the vocals are just distorted enough, the music is catchy and at 30 minutes, this album will not tire you out. (You may even listen to it multiple times in a row sometimes!)

The hooks start in the opening track, which you're pretty much guaranteed to like on the name alone - "Monkeys Everywhere!". This is also the main lyric to the song, being repeated multiple times throughout, with some other lyrics that I can't make out but that do help the music. The guitars and keys are appropriately psyched out and there's even a couple quick instrumental breaks to help liven things up.

I just love the fuzzed out tone of the guitar and the reverb on this album, it works perfectly with what the music is doing. And underneath the drums and the bass provide the perfect foundation to hold it all together.

If the vocals aren't your thing, then don't worry, for there are a fair amount of instrumental tracks on this album, including the excellent "Hot Stuff" (which reminds me somewhat of German Psych/Space act Sula Bassana's 2009 album "The Night") and the more ethnic-tinged closer "Zwischenspiel/Quidquid Late Apparebit".

Overall a superb slice of psychadelic rock that must be heard (and available for free download from the bands bandcamp page!)

After reviewing Lüger's first album and finding it very interesting, it seemed to me that I would be a fool not to pick up and review this one as well. The album notes on the group's bandcamp state that this album was recorded live, which is really very impressive to me given the precision with which these tracks are played. Expect much of the same kind of sound that appeared on Lüger's first album, and while "Concrete Light" falls a bit short of that first effort to my ears, it's still a worthwhile listen from an extremely interesting group.

"Monkeys everywhere" begins the album, and it sounds like it would have fit in very well on Lüger's first release. Distorted guitars, spacey yet intense vocals, and of course very electronic sounding keyboards recall exactly the sort of "prog-electronica-punk" that featured so heavily on their debut. The song does a nice job transitioning between motifs, with the primary driving chant of the song's title augmented by sections of simple electronic melodies and brief forays into more melodic vocal lines. All the while the guitar keeps chugging along in the background, giving the song a consistent rhythmic background that works very well with the often repetition-based style of music Lüger is playing.

"Monkeys everywhere" fades out to nothing but drumming, which continues into the beginning of "Dracula's chauffeur wants more." Additional percussion parts are added onto the main beat to create a compelling percussion base for the track before yet another electronic motif begins playing over it, soon to be augmented by the guitars again. When vocals I can't help but hear some reminiscence to punk music again; while this is much better arranged and composed than most punk I've heard, the driving, repeated guitar riffs do make some references to that genre, in my opinion. Some guitar solos stand out in the track, but unfortunately I think that this second track sounds very much like the first one, a fact which is aggravated by the song's nearly 7 minute run-time. Towards the end of the track it switches into a more unique motif, with the driving riffs exchanged for distorted drones, but on the whole it does seem kind of repetitive.

"Hot Stuff" follows, beginning with some percussion and some electronic effects that have a very "glitch music" feel to them. Bass is added over this, and keyboards soon make an appearance as well, though they're adding a different feel then they have in previous tracks; more Terry Riley-esque ambience than Kraftwerk loop. The guitars also take on a bit of a different role, with a spacier, more psychedelic tone instead of the riffing of the previous two tracks. The track operates on a sort of modular structure, with the backbone of the track always staying the same and additional sounds being layered atop it, but it never sounds overly repetitive or boring. It's also the first track on the album without vocals, but it never lags on account of this. Hot Stuff indeed.

"Shirokovsky pallasite I" begins with something that sounds like a distorted harpsichord before drums and bass add a funky rhythmic line. An acid-washed guitar solo is added over this, creating a fascinating combination of sounds and genres that still blends together into a nearly seamless mix of sound. The guitars really shine on the track, spiraling off into a mad, howling solo towards the end of the track before transitioning into "Shirokovsky pallasite II" which continues the motifs of the first part of the track while adding a harder edge. Vocals make their entry in part II as well, with possibly the best vocal melodies of the album making their appearance here. The vocalist belts out his part with a kind of intensity unmatched by any of the earlier tracks, and the wall of sound behind him is unrelenting, building in intensity while maintaining the themes of "Shirokovsky pallasite I." The end of the track is especially impressive, with the drums going absolutely crazy as the pounding guitars lead the march to the end of the song.

"Zwischenspiel/Quidquid latet apparebit" begins with some droning, distorted electronic sound before some almost folky sounding guitar (or at the very least folkier than anything else on the album) comes in. Organ makes an appearance as well, along with a rather eastern sounding keyboard part. This motif carries on for over three minutes, which is a bit too long for it to sustain itself, in my opinion. At about the halfway point the theme abruptly switches, maintaining the eastern feel but adding more prominent percussion, changing the melody of the guitar and adding a different keyboard part. Unfortunately, this part too just sort of repeats without really going anywhere different, amounting to, in my opinion, a rather overly repetitive track which is only minorly redeemed by a noisy solo towards the end of the track.

Unfortunately, the version of the album I have (which was downloaded from the group's bandcamp page) does not contain the seventh track listed above, "Belldrummer Motherf**ker," so I can't comment on it.

Overall, though, "Concrete Light" is a good follow up to Lüger eponymous debut, even if it doesn't shake up the formula of that album too much. Fans of that one will almost certainly like this one, though if you're just discovering the band I'd recommend starting with their debut, as in my opinion it has a bit more variety and it's a little tighter than "Concrete Light." This is still an interesting blend of styles, though, and anyone looking for contemporary, genre-bending progressive music would be remiss to pass this one up.

3/5

Great Spanish psych!

This is the second album of Lüger, a Spanish band with a clear tendency to the psychedelic side of progressive rock. Since their debut self-titled album I was really interested in their music and wanted to follow their future works, so last year, they released "Concrete Light" which actually happens to be a live album, though when I listen to it I would swear it is a studio one due to the precision offered in their performance. This album features six songs that make a total time of 32 minutes. Actually, if there is something I would argue is that the album is pretty short, I believe they could have included a couple of tracks more.

It opens with "Monkeys Everywhere", which is actually a killer first track. I love its repetitiveness but how is it little by little getting us into their fictional world, I mean, while the seconds pass the music becomes part of us and let us have a trip with it, putting some images and colors in our minds. I like the bass sound a lot, and of course, the keyboard work which is crucial in my opinion. Then all of a sudden we are now listening to "Dracula's chauffeur wants more", whose first minute is repetitive and soft but then it explodes and becomes faster and heavier, making a nice combination of psychedelic rock with even some punk reminiscences. The synth work is great, putting the best atmospheres, the guitars and bass are also cool, and the vocals nice, reminding me a bit of The Music or even Jane's Addiction (in some way).

"Hot Stuff" starts with some drums and electronic effects, seconds later a repetitive bass joins and then new atmospheric synths can be appreciated. The structure does not actually change, I mean, the song maintains the same rhythm during its five minutes, but the good thing here are the elements the band is adding while the seconds pass, and we can better appreciate them if we listen to it with nice headphones.

"Shirokovsky Pallasite I and II" is a two-part song that reaches nine minutes together. The first part is the shortest one; it softly starts with keyboards and then is progressing, first with bass lines and then with a wonderful drums playing. I want to emphasize that the work of the drummer in this particular track is excellent. There is a moment with a slice change, where synth adds new atmospheres, in that moment is when the second part begins. The music keeps flowing, it is mesmerizing and hypnotizing, once you let it enter, you will not escape from this psych realm. In this second part vocals also join later.

The album finishes with "Zwischenspiel/quidquid latet apparebit" which seems to be the calmest of them all. It has an oriental flavor due to the sitar sound, which shows the ethnical side of Lüger. Here I remember some older krautrock acts such as Dzyan or Agitation Free. After three minutes the song changes a little bit, showing a raw sound that contrasts with the delicate sitar. Then it progresses and becomes more and more intense until it finishes.

This is a pretty nice album by Lüger, with the same high quality as their self-titled one, the only problem I have here, as I previously mentioned, is that it is too short. Anyway, the music deserves itself four solid stars.

Enjoy it!