DUCK

The band that was never meant to be, THE ARISTROCATS was the result of a chance performance of three musicians who happened to play a sole Winter NAMM gig in 2011 and presented such a crowd pleasing dynamic performance that a band was born and has so far carried out a rather innovative and fruitful career of innovative instrumental heavy hitting progressive jazz-rock. The mere trio of English guitarist Guthrie Govan who dazzled the world in 2006 with his "Erotic Cakes" album, bassist Bryan Beller who has bantered with everyone from Steve Vai and Joe Satriani to Dethklok, Dream Theater and Ephel Duath, and last but not least German drummer Marco Minnemann who has enjoyed an amazingly prolific career pounding skins with a huge swath of artists including Necrophagist, The Mute Gods, Ephel Duath, Freaky Fukin' Weirdos and the prog rock supergroup The Sea Within.

Together this trio has been cranking out a series of high quality innovative instrumental albums ever since and with the release of its latest whimsical titled album DUCK, is showing no signs of fatigue or burning out anytime soon. And what an album title! As evidenced by the salacious double-entendre track titles, THE ARISTROCRATS continues to exhibit a sense of playfulness and whimsy not experienced since the classic years of Frank Zappa or England's Canterbury Scene. The concept behind this album was quite a fluke as old demo titled "Sittin' With A Duck On A Bay" suddenly spawned an entire flurry of inspiration that led to the concept of a tale of a DUCK who decidedly takes a trip thousands of miles from his small island home only to find himself in the USA, a tale that emulates Guthrie Govan's own process of relocating from his native England to the sunny coastal region of Southern California.

With a propensity for frisky grooves and waggish syncopations that frolic about under the guise of heavy guitar-based prog rock in cahoots with the wily world of jazz-based fusion, THE ARITROCRATS are seasoned stalwarts of crafting a distinguished potpourri of musical components into a meaningful romp through nine tracks that just miss an hour's run of playing time. While the musical output is quite minimalist with a mere guitar, bass and drums in full creative engagement, DUCK finds a surprise cameo of Moldovan born Rusanda Panfili contributing a violin performance on the closing "This Is Not Scrotum." While known as a captivating and mesmerizing live outfit, THE ARISTOCRATS are equally adept in crafting studio creations that exhibit an exuberant flow of creative prowess that combines the world of jazz, boogie rock, prog and the occasional excursion into a more exotic musical endeavor.

DUCK is the kind of album that sucks you in from the getgo and never let's you drop out for a breather. The creative infusion that these three musicians suffuse through every measure, meter, cadence, motif and decorative musical passage is nothing more than amazing in how it all ties together. Maintaining a firm control of tight grooves, clever interludes, sizzling soloing skills and an above average compositional fortitude, THE ARISTROCATS has miraculously transmogrified a chance performance some 13 years ago into a veritable career of crafty cleverness that finds its imaginative efforts continuing to blossom in ever expanding bouts of plucky stoutheartedness. With a keen sense of keeping things from growing stale, DUCK delivers the ultimate musical anatine migration narrative for an excursion into the world of instrumental heavy jazz-fusion rock.

Great compositions with enough twists and turns to spice things up for an hour's run, DUCK is indeed a testament to a power trio that has staying power and an apparent abundance of resourceful inspiration. DUCK really does deliver a beautiful set of innovative ingenuity that is engaging and best of all vivacious, flirtatious and spirited in ways that keep the band a notch above the competition. From the feisty opening cleverly syncopated "Hey, Where's MY Drink Package?" to the closing Moldovan gypsy folk infused "This Is Not Scrotum" with its savory touch of Eastern exoticism, DUCK is a refreshing slice of primo power trio prog that is uncompromising and instantly endearing.

Given that guitarist Guthrie Govan, bassist Bryan Beller, and drummer Marco Minnemann came together due to an accidental formation at a NAMM show it is amazing that not only have they stayed together but have released so many albums. I thoroughly enjoyed their 2011 debut, while their 2019 album 'You Know What?' is simply wonderful, and now they are back with their sixth studio album, following on from their 2022 foray with Primuz Chamber Orchestra. First and foremost, each player is an incredible musician, and while Guthrie often provides multiple layers of guitars, Bryan and Marco stick to a single track and the three of them then produce some of the most complex, inspired and downright enjoyable instrumental progressive rock music one is ever likely to hear.

Govan is allowed to show off his rock skills, often laying down very heavy material, while Bryan and Marco come to the music from a jazz style, and they meet somewhere in the middle. If that is not enough there is a sense of humour through what they do, and one can just hear the smiles on the faces of all those involved. One might think that when music is as complex as this that it will not be commercial, but it is incredible in the way they combine to produce music which is thoroughly enjoyable the first time it is played. Apparently the concept behind this is about a duck coming to the USA for the first time, and the cover shows a duck looking very much out of water. However, I must confess to thinking that the guys have missed a trick, as one of the greatest cult movies of all time also features a duck ending up in a strange place, and while there is room for "Sittin' with a Duck on a Bay" and "Duck's End" surely we could have had a spoof on the theme of "Howard The Duck"?

Even with that omission, there is no doubt that here is a stunning album where three guys are having fun together in a manner which is structured yet playful, easy to listen but the absolute devil to play, demonstrating it is perfectly fine to have fun while producing some of the most serious music around. Heavy Prog which contains elements of JRF and Canterbury with Eclectic also getting a look in, this is a standout release from the first note to the very last. ProgArchives currently this at #3 in the best albums of 2024, the #1 instrumental release, and rightly so.

The unapproachable trio of modern-day virtuosi are back with another display of skills that may be unparalleled in 21st Century rock and prog.

1. "Hey, Where's MY Drink Package?" (7:01) A quirky fun song with astonishing musicianship that twists and turns as if the band members were racing through the streets of a Renaissance-designed city. A top three song. (14/15)

2. "Aristoclub" (4:48) (8.875/10) 3. "Sgt. Rockhopper" (5:51) (8.875/10)

4. "Sittin' with a Duck on a Bay" (7:21) an entertaining display of familiar riffs and phrases strung along with virtuosic ease and effortlessness. A couple of the passages are even kind of cool--something the likes of Randy Bachman and Jeff Beck would even envy. (13.375/15)

5. "Here Come the Builders" (6:16) more blues-rock-based music with an endless string of regurgitated riffs based on the memorable earworms from our musical heritage. I don't really like the song but I cannot deny the talents on display. Amazing. (9/10)

6. "Muddle Through" (7:01) could very well have been a song from Steve Vai's most recent album. A very good song with lots of space to allow the listener to appreciate the remarkable subtleties routinely employed by these virtuosi. (13.75/15)

7. "Slideshow" (7:15) opens sounding like something light and delightful from a MONOBODY album, Marco and Bryan turn it into something a little more rock/prog rockish. Te third motif in the third minute, then, is a little spotlight back to Robert Fripp and King Crimson: a melodic guitar line within a Belew-Fripp-Levin-like weave that Robert, I think, would kill to know he could create. Guthrie's guitar solo in the fifth minute is more rock standard, but then the band goes heavy power chord like Tears For Fears did on Sowing The Seeds. The finish finds the boys reverting to the MONOBODY-like Post Rock. Definitely a top three song for me. (14.25/15)

8. "And then there Were Just Us/Duck's End" (9:04) opening with a Southern guitar rock sound like The Outlaws or Jared Leach's GHOST MEDICINE, the band then turns down a mellower side road--kind of a CHRIS REA guitar-centric Smooth Jazz path. Then in the third minute Guthrie takes on a WES MONTGOMERY jazz guitar style before Bryan is allowed to express a little at the end of the minute. Then there is a crazy wah-wah-pedal solo that STEVE VAI could've/would've done before a bridge of chord repetitions and progressions holds space for Marco to show off a little. Back to the Chris Rea/Bruce Cockburn palette for the sixth and seventh minutes before a pause at 6:50 allows a reset into the opening Southern Rock world--with bassist Bryan Beller really knocking the sound out of the park here while Marco does what Marco does (impeccably). My other top three. (18.75/20)

9. "This is Not Scrotum" (5:06) a Spaghetti Western? No, it's a klezmer tune! A klezmer tune with amazing musicianship (ncluding the multiple violin play of guest Rusanda Panfili). Great fun! (9/10)

As accomplished as these musicians are--and as sophisticated these songs are--I'm not much of a fan of this kind of heavy blues-jazz-rock music, and yet I cannot deny the "Wow!" factor that these guys' performances evoke from me: all three of them; multiple times in each and every song! There is no better guitarist on the planet right now than Guthrie Govan, there is probably no better drummer on the planet right now than Marco Minneman, and this bass player really impresses. It's too bad that all of the music here seems to draw from already-familiar, previously rendered sounds, riffs, forms, and structures as it seems that the possibilities for the creation of new music with these guys is totally possible: they have the talent and skill and understanding to go "where no one has gone before." But, other than piecing together their own unique and unusual collages of song bits, they don't. At the same time the boys owe so much to the masters of the past--especially the likes of Jeff Beck, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Vinnie Colaiuta.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of stunning musicianship from three of the 21st Century's most virtuosic instrumentalists. Despite the fact that I don't always like the musical sounds, styles, or palettes presented here, I can only recommend this album very highly to any music lover.