YOLK

YOLK are an Avant band out of France who released their first album back in 2001. This is my first experience with them and man what an excellent album this is. If not for that second track I'd being giving this 5 stars. There are things about that second song that annoy me unfortunately but the rest of this album reaches some real highs for me. The Zeuhl vibe on that opening track with the female vocals chanting away are right up my alley, and for me that's where the Zeuhl references start and end. The closer is powerful with some incredible vocals.

"Solar" opens with drums but then this powerful sound starts to come and go as the drums continue. An interesting start then we get this dead calm before guitars, drums and vocal melodies take over 1 1/2 minutes in. Nice. This is rather haunting. Bass 3 minutes in then it kicks in hard before 4 minutes as vocal melodies and more continue. Intense! Love that guitar before 4 1/2 minutes. A catchy rhythm takes over as vocal expressions continue. It settles with guitar only after 6 1/2 minutes then the intensity increases as Zeuhl-like chanting kicks in with that heavy sound. So good! An experimental calm arrives just before 10 minutes and atmosphere will also join in as the experimental sound continues. A powerful sound kicks in after 12 minutes. Oh my! A wall of sound really until it settles back before 13 minutes with vocal melodies and that earlier sound. Love the guitar that follows, then more vocal melodies and heaviness. Would love an album full of this material.

"Vanitas" opens with this repetitive guitar melody that I find so annoying as the drums pound away. It settles in just before a minute and some beautiful guitar melodies follow with atmosphere and drums. More powerful outbursts with vocal melodies before it settles again like before as contrasts continue. I like the electric guitar after 3 minutes and we get keys joining in as well this time. Intricate guitar before 5 minutes with drums followed by more of those powerful outbursts. Vocals kick in after 6 1/2 minutes along with plenty of power. There's that intricate guitar again. Some brief spacey synths before 8 minutes then more vocals. It's instrumental again after 9 minutes and it's powerful and intense. Then a calm arrives before 10 1/2 minutes with relaxed guitar then vocal melodies. It's like the song starts over again before 12 minutes. A calm ends it.

"Sepulchre" opens with drums and keys as the guitar joins in. Vocal melodies follow just before a minute. Great sound before 2 minutes with the bass and electric piano especially, then it turns heavy. Vocal melodies are back again after 7 minutes then it all picks up around 8 minutes. This is really good. Electric piano before 9 minutes then it settles late to end it. An excellent track but not quite as good as the opener.

I wish I was more into that second song... oh well, I really enjoy their style overall and highly recommend this to fans of experimental music and Zeuhl.

Yolk will swirl you around

Between the fringes of avant-rock and zeuhl, lurks Yolk with its intense and dynamic rhythms that propel back and forth, repetitive but not exhausting. One band that came to mind when listening to them was Bondage Fruit with their special brand of tribal, mantra zeuhl.

The opener track, Snaky Eye Ball, is angular and angry; the music at its core, reminds me of punk. Amidst all the madness, between the avant-jazz sax, metal-ish riffs and overall insanity there lurks a punk structure and spirit. In Hapiness Roof, a zeulhish flavour comes in; a groovy rhythm takes over with female vocals chanting, reminding of Bondage Fruit (particularly the first album). This style is prevalent throughout the album, sometimes in various forms, but the pattern and basics are always there. In Deprime A Bord, there's some cool use of the sax in a Miriodor-ian way in the entourage of zany melody with wacky vocals. Apart from the zeuhlish elements there are some folk/gypsy references such as heard on A Little Shot In Your Moon, Keep The God and Scathodick Surfers that bring to mind that kind of avant-rock. That is reinforced by the use of violin and the guitar backing it up as heard in that track. Keep The God is also quite varied in itself, with many different styles appearing throughout it, all done very well and very naturally as to not even notice. On Metaliban the music, while still tribal-like and pattern-repeating, gets a psychedelic twist. More Icon starts out less intense than the rest of the tracks, but has an hypnotizing swirling melody that gets on layers as it goes and accumulates energy in the process. This is a fabulous track that shows how to create an efficient repetition with enough ideas to keep it going without being too much or boring. Like in Deprime A Bord , the ninth track Flying Undershot mixes repetitiveness, tribal-zeuhl with the RIO-esque bumpy-frisky sax. This is a very well done track that shows their power at fusing influences from the various colours of the RIO/avant-rock rainbow. It is the last track, MMMC, that is the real treat of this release; psychedelic and mesmerizing, it is a long piece (almost 12 minutes) that will get you into a trip and is a perfect ending for this album.

To sum this up, this album is one great ride, an entertaining album with a high dose of energy, relentless and will leave you exhausted at the end. If you like Bondage Fruit, you will fancy this as well most probably. Fans of zeuhl-influenced music and avant-rock, if you like crazy musical tribal-like experiences, go for this. Not an essential album, but in my opinion, worth getting. It is a very good addition to my collection. For PA rating matters - 3.75-4 stars.