EYES / CAN'T GET THROUGH

"Ballsy" is not a commonly-used term in prog reviews. Even the heaviest of the heavy proggers maintain a certain measured quality, a 'discipline' if you will, that often discourages a purely visceral response -- which, after all, is a hallmark of rock music, and therefore a chief stumbling point for people trying (or not) to 'get' progressive rock.

HAIRY CHAPTER, however, exists on the extreme other side of the equation. If I didn't know going in that these guys were psychedelic Germans, I'd have sworn that I was listening to some good ol' Texas boys who discovered acid while on a football scholarship to Grand Funk U. This is the rare prog that goes as well with cheap beer and tinkering with your muscle car as it does with some sugarcubes and a light show.

Don't get me wrong, it's not great...except that it really is. It's not unique...except that it really is. It's not challenging, but brother, is it challenging. At the heart of the paradox that is HARRY CHAPTER is a willingness among the audience to suspend a certain amount of musical disbelief, perhaps in a completely different direction that one's mind is accustomed to opening.

Predictably, most 'technical' prog fans will hate it and even the more lysergically tolerant psych fans will regard it as an acquired taste. Art rock and RIO fans will probably not even deign to let their multicolored llama urinate on it (upside down, of course). But if you want to get Dazed and Confused Linklater-style, "Can't Get Through" will get your shirt off and your sideburns bouncing like no other.