NAZCA SPACE FOX

Nazca Space Fox is a psychedelic/space rock band from Germany which was founded in Frankfurt in 2014. The band is a trio of musicians creating instrumental space jams for you to bliss out to. Their 2nd album, "Pi", released in September of 2019, continues this sound that they have established. As was the case with their debut, self-titled album, this one has the same 3 piece line-up of Mathias "Matze" Gaul on guitar and mixing, Stefan Bahik on bass and Heiko Vollweiler on drums. The album is made up of 6 tracks and has a run-time of over 47 minutes and is full of surprisingly emotional and dynamic passages even if it is all instrumental.

A fuzzy guitar drones along to start off "Windhund", which soon develops into a nice groove with strong bass under the soft guitar, which soon develops in intensity with the help of drums that prod the guitar along. A melodic line moves along with the moderate tempo and the guitar continues to develop and improvise off if it. Halfway through, a start/stop section begins and a new riff is developed, after a few minutes it returns to the original style, but then soon the bass and drums get things boiling and the rhythm picks up.

As the album goes on, the overall sound veers alongside that of psychedelic/space rock jams, but the thing that makes this band unique is their use of changing rhythms and melodies, and the use of dynamics. They take the time to explore the great grooves and riffs they invent, do a bit of improvisation, mostly with a chunky guitar, and then turn the groove into another direction, play off of a new riff and then develop it some more. This is really evident in their 2nd track "Space Drift" as not only does the main riff or melody change, but the foundation also shifts, sometimes directing the main instrument, the guitar, off into a completely different direction. This also happens throughout the album, and you end up with some great instrumental sounds and jamming, but without things getting stagnant. In "Space Farm Blues", you should also notice the psychedelic sound that is prevalent especially in the last half of the track which brings the album and the music a step above just another guitar-led instrumental album in that the music continues to feel both retro- and neo-psychedelic at the same time. That fuzzy and groovy edge just seeps through the music.

You can expect this sound through the entire album, but there is enough variety in the sound to keep the listener interested. "Hummingbird" takes on a real progressive feel, especially in the sections when the tempo goes through a tricky shift suddenly moving fast and quickly slowing down again. This attests to the tightness of the band, at least in a studio setting, and I would be curious to see how that works in a live setting. The tempo shifts in this track would be tough to maneuver in a live setting, but if they can do that, then you know they are awesome musicians. After the heaviness of that track, "Showdown" softens things up to a floating and almost jazz-like melody. Again, some progressiveness shows through early on in this one as a tricky rhythm builds up the intensity a bit. A surprisingly lovely guitar melody shows up later. This track proves that psychedelic music can also be emotionally charged. "Grinder" ends the album with a bonus track on the digital version of the album. This one moves from a more free flowing jam alternating with loud and grungy style sections. As with the other tracks, there is some great music to appreciate here.

This album really proves that psychedelic/space rock music can be emotional and dynamic. There is a lot of chunky riffs, groovy passages, and even some melancholic sections that are mixed into this music, which also has a good share of progressive turns and twists to keep everyone satisfied. It would be interesting to hear how these structured/unstructured tracks translate into a live setting. I must admit that listening to this album impresses me that the band would have to be pretty tight to make it happen in concert. This ends up being a very strong 4 star album.