ALBER JUPITER

There is no doubt left in my mind that the bass guitar is my favourite instrument. Not content to anchor the rhythm section by connecting the melody and the pulse, the control center that sets the sonic foundation, progressive rock has given us players that have dared to push the boundaries into the realm of lead instrument (Squire, Lee, Entwhistle, Karn, Levin, Wetton etc?). Not many bands out there that can claim a bass dictatorship, excluding guitars or keyboards. Australian band The Omnific has a two basses and one drummer set up and now along comes this bass/drum duo from France called Alber Jupiter, needles to say the buy button was immediate. Both bands oddly enough, delve into the harder edged counties of psychedelia/space, focusing naturally on providing a wide palette of tones to their instrument of choice. Thankfully, constantly evolving musical technology can turn any instrument into a another one (with a few exceptions) and while drummer Jonathan Sonney pulses like a madman, his partner Nicolas Terroitin lays down foundational bass tracks as well as adding various sonic contrasts by using a whammy bass pedal, there are also a few synth colorations for effect. There is a palpable Krautrock tendency as well that explores the deepest confines of the universe of the mind.

After a short mood setting intro, the onslaught of galactic resonance takes hold on the mighty "Flying Turtles", in the realm of bands such as Monkey3, Naxatras and Vespero, to name just a few, there is also an obvious Lemmy Hawkwind vibe, with plenty of cavernous bass thrusters that owe more to Ted Nugent's classic Stranglehold than more recent examples of power space. Appropriately hypnotic, mind numbing and megalithic, the steamroller effect in full array, this colossus tramples underfoot without repentance. Sonney pummels his skins like a savage throttle engineer, methodically illuminating the course ahead. The leaden tempo knows no relent on "Uber en Colère", behaving like a parallel torpedo, whirring inexorably towards a new frontier in the outer cosmos, perhaps slightly more sedate as if in cruise control, a merciless agenda, nevertheless. Talk about atmosphere, throw in stratosphere and ionosphere while you are at it! The echoing riffs plow across the asteroid belt, unrepentant. A magnetic hold on the passengers takes effect, a galactic torpor that numbs the muscles and the mind into tacit acceptance of the dangers of the voyage ahead. Trepidation and fear of the unknown, a complete deficiency of the sense of time and space, relying on the hope that nothing will fail from the set purpose of discovery and perhaps survival will occur.

At first robotic and mechanical, "Martine à la Plage" showers a cosmic playfulness that has an eerie synthpop feel, before evolving back and forth into a more brutal vein, injecting loads of detailed dissonance and thrilling sounds into the sandbox of space. A ritualistic beat keeps this ship on course, inducing euphoria and acceptance, while the textures veer towards tingling expanses, keeping the thrusting adventure alive and well. Nastiness reveals itself on the gripping "Fangs", with its almost punkoid vibe, distantly clouded vocalizings that suggest the kind of distorted psychosis that insanity (temporary or permanent) can exude. Traumatic, bruising sonic torture, the bass thrashing as if strangling itself into submission, this is not pretty. At times, I felt an early Bauhaus sensibility (Bela Lugosi is Dead) that deepened the gruesome nature of this psychedelic contusion. Intense.

The epic 11 minute + title track finishes off this enormous album, and remains the absolute highlight here, as it possesses all the hall marks of the style these two lads wish to explore. Step one: lay down a profound and intransigent groove, offer no surrender or mercy and lay down a wide variety of sonic thrusters and boosters, keeping the raw emotion constantly spiralling, a world where nothing really matters except for introspective voyaging. Both Nicolas and Jonathan keep the controls to the heart of the sun on full interstellar overdrive, their silver machine mastering the universe, two brave warriors on the edge of time. Majestic and a must listen.

Shame many missed this in 2019, bigger disgrace dropping the ball twice. 4.5 celestial bassinets