SEA OF PEAS

After producing four albums in a three year period, Superluminal Pachyderm didn't release it's fifth album until 2005, the unusually named Sea of Peas with a suitable cover to boot. Superluminal Pachyderm was still a one-man project led by Ken Robinson, with guests appearing on two songs and one song containing a guest lyricist.

The wait for this album was well worth it after the slightly disappointing Prum album from 2002. The album immediately kicks off with a slowly chugging bass line. After a couple bars, the drums arrive and after a few more bars I'm awash with what sounds like duo Mellotrons on the left and right side of my headphones. Following this intro, we return to the warmly odd and eerie world of the Superluminal Pachyderm: a crazy dude singing a bunch of nonsensical lyrics with warped vocals atop an eerie soundscape chugging along like a machine. But there is something different about this album. The instrumentation is much more advanced and adventurous. Earlier albums had instrumentation that basically was an eerie backing soundscape for the crazy lyrics. Now the instrumentation is more front-and-center, sharing the stage with the odd combinations of nouns and verbs emanating from Robinson's mouth. I find the influences seem like a good mix of space rock and neo prog. The last two minutes of this almost 16-minute long title track return to the intro containing Mellotron and topping it off with a backing orchestra for a nice conclusion.

The second track is a six-part 20+ minute long suite called Wrinkle the Eyebrows on the First Dog. Lord knows what this one is about. The music goes through a mix of calm and peaceful parts with cacophonic, chaotic pieces. All of that on top of a foundation of weird. Yeah, I don't know what genre you could place this one in. Some of the parts have a psychedelic feel to them, some are more avant rock. It's a killer song that doesn't sound like anything I ever heard before, sort of a "Supper's Ready" for the insane.

The third track is a neo prog number called Dezincification featuring Duane Tate on vocals. Again it isn't clear what this song is about, but Mr. Tate is clearly capable of singing this nonsense, partly playing multiple characters throughout the piece. The song also has a darkness to it thanks to the deep bass lines.

Track four is about a carnivorous cow that eats burgers and was penned by guest lyricist Jaime Jamison. Not only is Robinson weird, but so are his guests. This song has a kind of funky side to it, has lots of mooing (including some through a vocoder?), a Mellotron-washed chorus, and a wall-of- sound ending. It's sort of a nod to Pink Floyd's Animals in a way.

Following this is a short interlude called Pseudodesks and Fleas from the Atmosphere, a short instrumental featuring a nice cello line, spacey electronics, a short horn section. All timing in at under two minutes! This might have made a nice song if it was expanded. It's slightly comparable to ELO's first album.

The sixth track is a more song-based number called An E-mail from Franklin D. Roosevelt. It's basically about spam e-mails and covers the usual topics like viruses, Viagra ads, Nigeria, and pyramid schemes. The subject is still applicable nine years later. A nice fast-moving number that seems more like older SP songs.

The final track is a five-part, almost 17 minute long suite called Of the Ferric Oxides in the Old Toilets. This one features guest musician Jeff Edmunds on Stick and guitars and also providing effects and vocals. The first part has a really neat Stick groove with vocodor-ized vocals. Following this is a long section of what can best be described as a "psychedelic wipeout" filled with voices saying all kinds of nonsense, laughing, sound effects, electronics, and the kitchen sink. Eventually this madness leads to another part like the first one, but with a more driving, but complicated rhythm. A guest vocalist simply called Miriam sings this part in a rather weird, sort of muffled style. The final part of the song sounds like a repeating phone sound and footsteps walking. It's a spoken part about if a vacuum cleaner bag should be eaten with a fork or a spoon. A fitting ending to another crazy album by this obscure artist.

No, this isn't the same as Yes' Close to the Edge, or Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, or Genesis' Selling England by the Pound. No, there really isn't any other masterpiece I could conceivably compare this to, but it's still a masterpiece and a very unique, weird, almost unworldly experience. Take a trip on the Sea of Peas, a journey that's like to cause brain damage. And hey, it's free on Bandcamp!

Five stars for one of the most unique albums I've had the pleasure of listening to.