MONEY MACHINE

My feelings towards Bigelf will forever be biased by the circumstances that surrounded my introduction to the band. It all began during the summer of 2001 when the Swedish TV channel ZTV signed a distribution contract with Hultsfredsfestival to broadcast some of the festival highlights as a part of their summer schedule.

At the time, ZTV was sort of a continuation of ideas set by MTV during the '80s where the channel broadcasted shows that were aimed towards a younger audience in the age group span of 15 to 25. I happened to be 16 at the time so their programs were on top of my list when it came to television. Of course most of the programs had non-existent productions values and relied heavily on the show hosts to make the best of the situation, but that was part of the charm.

With this setting in mind came the Hultsfredsfestival summer, which due to my age I couldn't attend so I relied entirely on ZTV to fill me in on the events of the festival. One of the smaller acts that caught my attention was this obscure doom metal/stoner rock outfit called Bigelf that was interviewed during one of the broadcasts and they definitely managed to make an impression on me! The band played retro rock styled music using equipment from the '70s which tweaked their sound to a carbon copy of the music I loved so much. The first song that the band performed was called Money Machine and it totally blew me away in terms of songwriting, performance and most of all the sound. I was hooked from the get-go! I remember racing to the record store, the next day, only to find out that Bigelf's material was nowhere to be found. Ahhh, the disappointment I felt at the time! Eventually I've got my hands on a copy of Money Machine a few days later and spinned that album like crazy for the rest of that summer and all the way towards the middle of autumn.

The first composition is Money Machine and it basically hits you with its wall of sound in the introduction section. I would definitely recommend this 7 minute composition to everyone who is remotely interested in '70s rock music. The nods towards progressive rock are of course unavoidable when it comes to '70s styled compositions and there are quite a few excellent passages here and there that would even make the most critical listeners feel pleased. Most noticeable for me is the ending of the title track which borrows heavily from the '70s King Crimson especially the second part of Starless but also Cirkus and probably a few others.

This by no means implies that Bigelf is another copy & paste band because their sound is actually very original and it's easy to recognize a song of theirs when you hear one. Most of the other compositions on the album like Sellout and Ironheel keep the high quality and being a fan of great melodies I just love the performance of Side Effects.

The only track that I've always considered inferior in this mix is Death Walks Behind You. I never understood the reason for my disliking of this particular song until I found out that it actually was a cover of Atomic Rooster's track off the song-titled album. It always felt as though Bigelf was limiting themselves on this cover by leaving most of their innovative sound twitching and bending skills in favor of a fairly straightforward representation of this cover.

Money Machine is a great album with a nostalgic twist to it!

***** star songs: Money Machine (7:13) Side Effects (3:11)

**** star songs: Sellout (5:02) Neuropsychopathic Eye (4:20) (Another) Nervous Breakdown (3:22) Mindbender (2:00) Ironheel (5:32) The Bitter End (5:19)

*** star songs: Death Walks Behind You (4:32)