TAUK

HOMUNCULUS was the band's debut album that received lots of praise upon its release for its hard-charging melodic fusion of disparate genres that create transcendental emotional connections in pure instrumental form. This album is basically a jammy fusion type of experience without any vocals to be heard. In addition to the four members of the band, Fredo Ortiz offers extra percussion on several tracks. The music is pretty much set to slow creeping tempos to more mid-paced processions and each track stands out from the rest with the tones and timbres providing the commonalities that keep it all connected.

TAUK is an interesting band indeed as it wends and winds its way through the ten compositions on HOMUNCULUS with the spacey opener "Dead Signal" setting the stage of a post-rock sonicscape decorated with jazzy drum rolls, Coltrane-esque chord progressions and occasional guitar antics with the jamming sensibilities of bands like Phish. Starting with the second track "Afro-Tonic" it becomes clear that TAUK is about changing things up and delivers a heavier funky bass groove and more accessible crossover appeal before drifting into the next track "Hello Narwhal" which begins with a metal guitar riff a la Black Sabbath but fortified with jazz chord progressions and Latin percussion.

One strength of this album is the professionally sounding production which was carried out by Robert Carranza of Mars Volta and Jack Johnson fame. While the musicians only craft a slow to simmering sound and never exercise any virtuosic chops at all, much of the album's appeal comes from the warm sounds in the mix as they overlap and provide sonic counterpoints to an otherwise fairly straight forward procession through the musical fields. While the album has a rather dream feel for most of its run, once in a while it does rock out a bit such as on the closing "In The Basement Of The Alamo," however these moments are fleeting and the album predominantly hums along in smooth jazz mode with spaced out atmospheres and post-rock percussive drive.

If you are in love with some of the slower paced jazz-fusion records of the past such as those by Nucleus or similar artists then you may love this a lot more than i do. While the music on here is beautiful in its presentation, the album comes off as a bit underwhelming with an aimless procession through smooth jazz-fusion by-the-numbers tunes that admittedly offer some extras to set itself apart from the pack but in the long run doesn't really deliver enough meat with the potatoes. This is the kind of music i really enjoy as background music while i'm focusing on another activity but the album fails to dazzle the senses with outstanding compositions or any sort of instrumental wizardry. Nice debut and well produced but ultimately misses the ultimate mark of inducing pure musical ecstasy.

3.5 rounded down

They just have this consistent output of inventive, melodic, exciting songs that make you feel good, and all the while you're gushing in amazement at each member's musical chops. I saw them live in Buffalo in 2016 shortly after their "Sir Nebula" album came out, and they just tore down the joint with their energy. (By the way, they have another double-live album called "Headroom" that I don't see listed here yet on PA, and it's a great intro to their oeuvre up to 2015.)

I see some people comparing them to Umphrey's McGee, but there is less jamming here, and no vocals. Too bad there aren't many other album reviews here of this band. It's a real gem.

So this is an one hour extract from a 2014 live performance, recorded in Atlanta, which shows them in great condition, that's my impression. For me it's their best live setting I could listen to so far. Due to the looooongtime experience playing together, UM are celebrating every gig like a happening, with much easiness and a greater variety in style, often intensively challenging the audience. TAUK are presenting their songs more concentrated on the own interaction here, it seems.

Some excerpts are close to the studio version, some extended, featuring much playfulness, like the impressive Tumbler for example. 'Live At Terminal West' is an enjoyable affair, should be played loud preferably. Overall this is well focussed on the jazz fusion component within the sound. Hereby the musicians' interplay is undoubtedly excellent. The compositions are above average, tricky enough to satisfy a prog fan, I would say. Easy to verify while visiting their bandcamp page.