JET PROPULSION MYSTERY SUMMER

Inventive US band from Chicago, formed in 1993 around guitarist/vocalist Dan Sweigert and featuring Chris Block on bass, who had just quit from Avant/Noise Rock act Cheer- Accident.The original crew featured also Dan Van Schindel on drums.Block and Van Schindel were soon replaced by Jerry Overmeyer and Dave Rosato respectively and a second guitarist, Rolly Cesar, joined the band.This line-up recorded a self-titled debut in 1996, after which Star Period Star were again reduced to a trio with Overmeyer and Cesar out of the picture and Alex Perkolup taking over the bass.A second, privately released album followed in 1998, carrying the title ''Jet propulsion mystery summer''.

According to the band, the initial aim was to come up with a weird blend of SONIC YOUTH-like attacking Post-Punk/Noise Rock and complex Prog ala Red-era KING CRIMSON.They have a done a nice job on this album and the description aforementioned is close to the album's style, where powerful, deep bass lines and vocal distortions meet with acrobatic guitar work in a ROBERT FRIPP style, switching from crazy rhythms to sudden breaks with complicated music.Drumming is very jazzy and technical and the album contains also some sporadic piano and keyboard samplers for a deeper sound.The style of Star Period Star is very personal and attractive, unless you dislike the words SONIC YOUTH combined.Mainly instrumental, the music is incredibly energetic with unexpected twists, jazzy leanings and furious grooves, ending up in schizophenic guitar moves by Sweigert.Some of the vocal lines along with the more downtempo parts of the album are reminiscent of RUSH and ECHOLYN.The longer tracks are unsurprisingly the most flexible ones with a combination of a frenetic KING CRIMSON guitar manifest, loose sound experiments and propulsive dissonances with a slight RASCAL REPORTERS atmosphere.

If I should imagine how King Crimson would have sounded if they recorded ''Red'' in late-90's, the sound of Star Period Star on ''Jet propulsion mystery summer'' could have been a proper answer.Guitar-dominated Power/Prog with Alternative/Post-Punk aesthetics.Recommended.