SPACE KITCHEN

It's not often I trip across a new band of younglings that remind me of E.L.O. and Camel. Even more cool, the singer kind of sounds like Joey Ramone, so there's a tinge of a punk or new wave 80s attitude. Mix this all together and you get Space Kitchen, a band out of Ontario Canada that's genuinely fun to listen to.

Lots of newer prog bands are exploring the harder metal territories of the genre, but Space Kitchen proves there's still young visionaries who are inspired by the under-represented poppier and straight forward classic rock sounds of the 70s and 80s.

This band is not tied down by the popular ProTool grids of today- there are timing changes and fluctuations that allow the music to breathe as sections and movements evolve. There are plenty of rich vocal harmonies as well.

"So nice to be here, but I'm going home" reads a line of lyrics that perhaps captures the vision of the band- staying true to an inner vision that goes against the norms of popular music.

Tracks 1 and 2 are 'up' beat songs, 3 gets darker and tracks 4 through 7 unapologetically explore the prog domain.

Another treat to the ears about this band is the generous use of piano and keyboards like in I Love You Baby which also features a soulful guitar solo.

Songs like Zoo Keeper, short as it is, is large, broad, menacing in parts, with jangly guitars and dark synths and drums that rattle the cages.

With The Moving Picture I have to ask: Do we have a new inspired prog classic? Space Kitchen reveal they have a substantial vision featuring some intricate ELP-ish 70s prog vibes, epic bass riff lines... rousing stuff.

The Squig is a great little instrumental where Space Kitchen breaks out the rock organ, and Sun Tower...hold on tight to your horses folks. Some Genesis and Steve Hackett vibes- with some great bass lines.

The self-titled album, which is EP length, resolves perfectly with Pain Goblin and some absolutely brilliant reversed bass. At that point you may feel impelled, like me, to restart the album- I find two listens in a row at least are needed.

I quite like the production - it's a bit home-spun and garagey but it is a tad dry at times- needing some engineering tweaks to add more energy and space to the drum kit or keyboards for example. All that is quite forgivable however as Space Kitchen are full of promise if they are going to stay the course for the long run. It seems they are an indie band without any label at the moment, but for how long till they come knocking?

It's fresh, fun and intelligent prog-influenced music for a new generation of music fans.