Album Review: "Friches Et Bestioles" by Neurococcyx

Friches Et Bestioles

Basically what I do is sell air.

Remember that scene in City Slickers when Billy Crystal's character was talking about how he sold on air ad time for a radio station when he was discussing how unfulfilled he felt at work?

Think about all of the thousands of bands out there are doing just that?

Naturally, I don't mean this in a bad way! It's a whole other world out there. Some people in this great big marble we call Earth prefer no physical copies of anything. Movies, books, music, video games what have you. They want digital.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have purchased digital things too. My most recent digital purchase was Dungeons & Dragons Shadow Over Mystara to play it in English on the Wii U. My copy was for the Sega Saturn and in Japanese and my daughter wants to know the story!

Lovingly stolen from Neurocococcyx's Facebook

There's even an industry that's gained some traction because of the reaction to digital copies...vinyl.

I suppose some of us aren't just ready for Star Trek just yet, myself included.

So, this album has been out since October on digital and available on bandcamp, but the band contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in hearing it on a brand new CD.

So, let's talk about it and not my waxing philosophic.

They are a French Progressive Instrumental band.

The guitarist is becoming a personal hero because he picked up the guitar at age 35. That's rock'n'roll personified right there.

Musically, this album is really all over the place, as good progressive music should be.

It's not shreddy or overly busy, but full of songcraft.

The guitars are fuzzy, the drums are thumping, and the bass holds the two together.

There is no one trying to take over the role of the vocals a la Steve Vai and no one is trying to impress the class a la John5. This is a band that just simply doesn't have a singer. It's kind of what Black Sabbath would have sounded like if Geezer had never met Ozzy.

Like all good instrumental music, there are peaks and valleys full of imagery. I've spun this CD in my car for the last four or five days before attempting to write about it. It's a tonic for the mind.

Listening to this record has allowed me to see past what's in front of me and into the beyond.

Release: Out Now
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: DIY
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