THE YUMYUM TREE

Since they heyday with classic records like 'Jurassic Shift', the space rock landmark Ozric Tentacles has gone through a multitude of lineup changes, leaving guitarist Ed Wynne as the only permanent member. In this sense, the band has become less of a band, and more of a glorified solo project that continues to write music in the style and sound of the same band that once took us deep into Erpland. The musicians and lineup of 'The Yumyum Tree' aside, this is quite similar to the music I have heard from the Ozrics before; atmospheric, electronic, spacey and magical. Suffice to say, Ozric Tentacles shows no signs of changing up their sound by this point, instead adding little flourishes here and there for the sake of continuity. The band's 2009 output does not necessarily add anything new to what they have already done in the past, but for what its worth, it is another good addition to a band that I have always admired for their consistency.

It becomes something of a difficulty to review more than one of a band's albums when the band so uncompromisingly sticks with one staple sound. For Ozric Tentacles, they have always tried out new things, but largely stick to their formula of world music inspired space rock. 'The Yumyum Tree' does not give any new sounds to someone who has heard the music of this band before, but keeping in touch with the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' motto, it is pretty difficult to fault the band for this. One thing that my existing familiarity with the band's sound does though was make 'The Yumyum Tree' ironically a tougher cookie to crack when it came to appreciation; I already had no doubts for the band's strength, but having heard much better music from the band before, the album sounded- and still sounds, to some extent- a little unnecessary. Ozric Tentacleskeeps the music trippy and enjoyable here, but the lack of the other classic members is sorely evident in the lack of memorable drum fills and exciting bass grooves. Immediately, this puts the album a couple of steps below an album like 'Jurassic Shift', but while I cannot see myself choosing this over one of their better albums of similar sound, 'The Yumyum Tree' does have it where it counts.

For someone who is not yet familiar with the work of this band, the sound is based in instrumental psychedelic rock, but instead of travelling into space with their music, the Ozrcis instead choose to visit distant and exotic cultures, as is evident in their Eastern musical influences here. One thing that I have noticed is that the band has started gravitating more towards electronic music with each successive album, and this album is no exception to that. There is still little difference between this and the style of the classic albums, but Wynne is sure to milk the synths for all they got here. The title track is a fair example of how Ozric Tentacles can break out of the space rock label and create something more akin to house electronic music than anything rock-based. Overall, this emphasis helps the music for the sake of ambiance, but in terms of a more engaging listening experience, it is undeniable that things get a little boring as the album wears on.

With the other musicians gone and replacements being taken in, Ed Wynne's guitar solos are the most standout part of the record, and show up everywhere; surprising considering that at this point, the band's music is highly based in electronica. His solos and noodling is certainly matured from earlier works, although its loose, improvised nature does not always tend well for a memorable experience. 'The Yumyum Tree' is a very good album from the band though, even though it is all too clear that the band has seen better days. That being said, they are highly consistent, and the music here truly is not that much weaker from the Ozrics' golden material. However, at this point in their career, the band's sound has lost most, if not all of its shock merit, and despite having a very similar sound to other work by this band, they are steadily losing their organic touch.

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