Monkey 3, Cruising on Majik Carpets; Paradox, Leuven; November 11th (Guy Peters)
CONCERT REVIEW
Of course, setting out without a certain plan, without clear-cut structures and intentions involves
some consequences: no matter how quick the interaction might be and how fluid the communication
between the musicians, there’s always the lack of a clear direction (part of the fun, of course),
while songs like this usually aren’t the most catchy or hooky either. Luckily, this sextet was well
aware of the possible pitfalls and ensured that things wouldn’t get out of hand.
Of course, it’s very much indebted to the spirit of early 70s art/jam-rock and if bands like Pink Floyd
and The Soft Machine aren’t your bag, there’s no way you’d like this. Occasionally, the band sounded
somewhat reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s trippier moments (“No Quarter,” for instance), but the blues was
largely absent, as was the majestic grandeur of many of Hypnos 69’s songs. Instead, you’d get
freefloating music that bordered on the overly repetitive and directionless sometimes, but usually
sounded inspired and convincing enough. Especially the second song (I presume improvisations have no
titles here) seemed smart enough to fool you it had an inner logic that was agreed on, while its climax
was the best moment of the set.
Taking the risk to fall flat (nowadays, people are less likely to
blame their mediocre weed for half-assed jams), but largely succeeding, Cruising on Majik Carpets proved the future may look
bright for those into rock improv.
Yet, there are enough elements there for them to
qualify as a stoner/heavy psych outfit. They’re an instrumental band, specialize in massive
grooves infused by heavy psych and post-Sabbath sludge, yet they manage to elude the stereotype. This
must be because of their continental isolation, although the presence of a forth member on
keyboards/samples (would that be the mysterious Mister Malpropre?) gives them a kind of edge
Pink Floyd also had in the 70s: it’s the combination of warm & fuzzy grooves (desert music,
you know) with futurist samples and wicked keyboard-sounds, which almost creates a glacial atmosphere
that evokes widescreen ice-covered landscapes or lunar mountain ridges instead of Death Valley sunsets.
Even though the band created a wall of sound that almost qualified for the “colossal”-adjective,
they also maintained a precision you wouldn’t expect, with intricate Tool-inspired interplay,
multi-layered sections and quite subtle mood shifts. As on their album, Monkey3 seem to inhabit the
region in between Pink Floyd (the space-rock element), Pelican (the epic visions it conjures),
Ufomammut (the oppressive heaviness and addition of futurist keyboards) and experimental hardrock.
Seeing them live made me realize that not only guitarist Boris is an excellent musician, but that also
bassist Picasso (yep) and drummer Walter are forces to be reckoned with, displaying power and
refinement.
The band tore through their album’s highlights – the droning “Last Gamuzao,” the
Hawkwind-styled “Chillao” and “Narcotic Jam” with impressive guitar parts containing Santana-inspired
sustained notes and a cerebral heaviness. For maximum impact, the set perhaps should’ve been a bit
shorter, but since the band was so well received, the two encores were probably nice extras to most
people. All this goes to show that their sound and instrumental direction also have their limitations,
but even more than that, their set proved that they’re really one of the few European bands capable
of maintaining a thoroughly personal style and vision in a genre that’s often the victim of
carelessness, monotony and lazy imitations. Swiss rock is still in good hands, no need to worry about
that.
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The appropriately named Cruising on Majik Carpets is a jam collective (they swore they didn’t
rehearse any specific songs, just agreed about the keys in which to play) featuring of 3/4ths of
Hypnos 69 (Steve on guitar, Steven on sax, Tom on vintage 70s keyboards) with additional help from
Robby from Titty Twister (on bass), Bart (on guitar) and a drummer that was unfamiliar to me.
As a rule, bass player Robby was the one to lay down the foundation, a led-heavy, repetitive groove
that functioned as a guide for the rest of the band. The drummer usually followed, adding his own
accents here and there, while the guitarists steered the band into a certain direction. Finally, the
sax and keyboards seemed to have a more embellishing function, helped creating a tension, developing
a climax or guarantee a landing on soothing ground.
Monkey3 are a special case, as their debut album already suggested a few years ago. They don’t
look like your average stoner band (where’s the hair?), they don’t dress like the average
stoner band (guitarist Boris seems to hesitate between the Hell’s Angels and the local Mob) and they
don’t sound like your average stoner band.