BOILING FOWLS

First album of the nutty band Cheeto's Magazine, 'Boiling Fowls' is a blend of humour and pastiche. In fact, although delivering a progressive music, they stay far from the cliches of bands that take themselves too seriously by playing a complex music just to answer criteria specific to the genre. Here, technique serves humour. In this album, the will to set free from the codes of classic progressive rock is very strong. The opening epic is a good example of this state of mind. A pastiche of Heavy Metal (filled with zappaesque shouts that match perfectly the image of the hen crying for help on the album front cover) is indeed sandwiched between two punchy sections in the vein of Spock's Beard, mixing cheerful voices, catchy rhythms, anthemic guitars and alarmed synths. The transition to a ballad in the second Beard-like slice, together with strings, come as as salvation sign to the hen's fate. Other elements support the humorous aim of the band. First, the pastiches of electro music "The driver and the cat" and its little sister-song "Driver French" are very surprising as they contrast sharply with the other songs, and mark a risk taking that can only be acclaimed for a band that produces a music targeting an elitist audience. Then, synths also were arranged to add to the humour. They are wriggling in the very catchy "Volcano burger" with its big drums, and in the eclectic "Octopus soup" and "Fat frosties". Synths can also be hilarious, as in "Four Guitars" and "Fat frosties". Moreover, winks to videogames are apparent in "The driver and the cat", and once again in "Octopus soup" and "Fat frosties". The voices also delve into many territories, and as with synths, humour is always present. Put an ear to "Teddy Bears" and its chant turning from rock pastiche to gospel. But listen also to the canon voices that our four lads from Spain "butcher" maliciously (yet with elegance) in the epic and in "Octopus soup". And it's not all, as one can enjoy a tribute to Dave Vanian of The Damned in "Octopus soup", but also take delight in the pastiche of opera choirs on "Naughty Boy", a track where lead vocals are very close to the universe of Mike Patton at the time he was with Faith No More. In a nutshell, if you were looking for the answer to Frank Zappa's question "does humour belong in music?", Cheeto's Magazine brought it to you !

Spanish band CHEETO'S MAGAZINE have been around since at least 2009 in one form or another, but was and I suspect still is a fairly unknown quantity in the world of progressive rock. As many other bands have opted to do, they self-released their debut album, "Boiling Fowls", an event which took place in 2014.

To be able to make fun of something, it's usually a good idea to know rather intimately the subject that is the target of your humorous escapades. That tends to ensure that the fun is done tongue in cheek and with respect rather than with ridicule. I get the impression that Cheeto's Magazine is doing just that, having a slight bit of a laugh with progressive rock and related genres, and creating the laughs from a base of intimate knowledge and a strong affection for the landscapes explored.

This fine production kicks off with a massive, epic length composition called Nova America. 25 minutes of symphonic progressive rock, sporting plenty of keyboard driven passages, multiple themes, well developed vocal harmonies, liberally flavored with whimsical details and dominant effects both in the instrument and vocals department. The kind of creation that I suspect may be inspired by the likes of Spock's Beard, but with some core characteristics that can be traced back to good, old Yes.

The rest of this album is a slightly different kettle of fish. Book-ended by charming, richly keyboards layered synth pop tunes, we're then transported into a section of six songs that is a fun and tongue in cheek take on a number of different varieties of progressive rock and related genres. A key feature throughout are whimsical keyboard sounds and effects, of the kind that if not in sound and style then at least in approach have some striking similarities to old British progressive rock, arguably even with some Canterbury inspired details here and there, applied to material that range from almost pop oriented progressive rock to the symphonic varieties, and also with a number of harder edged affairs with rich and vibrant guitar riffs as a core feature. At times combining with vocal arrangements that makes a mention of Queen and Freddie Mercury unavoidable, and on an occasion or two with intense passages bordering metal in style and scope. But just about always with a whimsical detail or two happening or about to be played out. Towards the end the band even takes a giant leap outside of their main path to add in some jazz to the proceedings on second to last track Naughty Boy.

The end result is an album of positive, vibrant and fun progressive rock. Uplifting and whimsical in a good way, with enough quirks and twists to satisfy most progheads in the structure department, with a great array of what appears to be vintage sounding keyboards and of course with room for some organ as well, a sophisticated tongue in cheek production that makes a bit of fun on progressive rock, done with style, care and a great deal of affection. An album that merits an inspection by progressive rock fans that enjoys a good smile and a warm laugh, especially those who have an affection for material of a harder edged nature at that.

Oh my prog! Wassup with band names these days? When i see the moniker of the Spanish band CHEETO'S MAGAZINE from the greater Barcelona area (El Prat de Llobregat to be exact), i can't help but think of the artificially flavored junk food snack that used to have that cheesy cheetah hocking the "cheese that goes crunch!" There were the soft fluffy Cheetos as well but personally i never cared for those. Anyway, this crazy title along with a cute cartoon image of a chicken in a pot of water on the album cover really stood out amongst the heavily crowded halls of modern prog. I mean if a band can name itself CHEETO'S MAGAZINE, can we soon expect a Dorito's Diary? A Frito's Fannypack? A Ruffle's Razorblade or even a Pringle's Pantyhose? I dunno and i digress before i even begin this review. I'm such an American having eaten all this crap in my youth and i have no idea if they even sell this garbage in Spain! But despite the funky band name, this is some seriously splendiferous prog behind the super silly packaging!

The origins of CHEETO'S MAGAZINE (and i have no idea where the name came from) dates back to the summer of 2005 when founders Esteban Navarro (lead vocals, keyboards) and Manel Orella (guitars) set out to do some comedy shows with some music added for good measure but the whole project got expanded with the inclusion of Dídac García (bass) and Joan Montané (drums) which turned into a band that steered the quartet into the realms of prog rock. Having a little performance history under their belt the band spent some time conjuring up some proggy music mojo and performed the first gig in 2007 and was a smashing hit as the band had already hit upon its own quirky delivery system mostly thanks to Esteban's eccentric silly demeanor that found the band adding all the humor and childish antics to their unique style of symphonic prog. Zappa and Canterbury stalwarts would approve! (clappy hand icon)

By 2009 the band had recorded some of the best songs and released their first EP titled "All The Chickens In The Bowl" which would be performed for a few more years and ultimately led to this debut full-length release BOILING FOWLS in 2014. Somewhere along the line drummer Montané was replaced by Rafa Weber and Matias Lizana joined the cast as primary keyboardist. While the band debuted as a quintet, BOILING FOWLS also features a few guest vocalists as well as a couple sax performances by Sergi Felipe (on "Nova America" and "Naughty Boy.") The final product presents a shiny exuberant production job based in a modern version of symphonic prog that takes a few cues from bands like Spock's Beard and other Neil Morse led band's like Transatlantic as well as the dreamy lengthy prog workouts found in other bands like Echolyn or the Flower Kings. BOILING FOWLS delivers a lengthy series of prog workouts and clocks in at over 64 minutes which is usually a red flag for, yeah you guessed it - FILLER! But not the case with these Spaniards. This is an amazing display of twists and turns that keep me enthralled for the entirety.

The opening track "Nova America" alone takes up almost 26 minutes of sonic real estate but showcases the band's ability to weave tight knit melodies with schizoid freak outs, choppy time signature rich instrumental gymnastics and best of all delivered with a quirky sense of humor. Belying their geographical origins, CHEETO'S MAGAZINE gives no indication that they emerge from one of the Latinate language speaking regions of Europe and rather sound like they originate from some Anglo-dominant sector of the world. Within the album's nine tracks you can hear not only the modern sounds of symphonic prog but also find some Beatles inspired melodies and harmonies, Gentle Giant prog quirkiness, Kansas symphonic prowess as well as the Zappa fueled silliness not to mention interesting segments of Eno inspired electronica as well as heavy guitar riffing that borders on the neo-prog sounds of bands like IQ or Arena. The album comes off as quite ambitious and obviously a labor of love and not one forced upon the team at hand because all is displayed in a graceful manner with the passion shining through every cadence.

CHEETO'S MAGAZINE scores on their debut BOILING FOWLS which finds inspiration in the entire history of the melodic side of prog and pulls it off with a stylistic flair all their own. Perhaps the only weak track is the closing "Driver French" which sounds eschews the prog scene altogether and opts for a danceable electro-pop style which is found in small doses throughout the album but integrated quite fashionably whereas the ending track goes nowhere else. While not quite the perfect masterpiece of prog, CHEETO'S MAGAZINE found a unique way to forge their visionary style into the prog world without the all too often derivative confinements that don't allow the experimental touches to shine. Many newer symphonic prog bands suffer from this phenomena but BOILING FOWLS just comes off as taking an unexpected journey down a road of prog that i didn't know existed and once on it, i can't help but get lost as the non-linear stroll pleasantly twists and turns into unexpected and unforeseen scenery that wasn't in the tourist's brochures.