Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: El Kachon
Label: Self-released
Released: 2015
Length: 36:43
Rating: 3.5/5
El Kachon, a band from Dolenjske Toplice, are back on the scene after a good two years with their new and second studio album, »Permanently Lubricated Nuts«. On the new record they keep following the visionary musical course that was already set out on their excellent studio debut »In The Bush« (2013).
Already on that first album, El Kachon made it clear they’re a band that’s something truly special on the Slovenian music scene, practically lost in time and space. A young outfit of seasoned, talented musical souls, drawing inspiration from the blues-rock legacy of the sixties and seventies of the last century, happy to flirt with the punchy rock’n’roll bounce of a sturdy groove, and just as happy to deftly spike the rhythms with a funk element.
»Permanently Lubricated Nuts« keeps deepening and shaping the very character and spirit of the band. On top of that, they build a densely packed sonic backdrop of mature, fuller arranging. The building blocks of the sound float in just the right balance. Even within the arrangements, no single instrument grabs the lead or pushes into the spotlight. That belongs to the lead vocals, which El Kachon again share out among the band members, though once again the female voice stands out, the one that belongs to Tina. There’s a noticeable shift toward streamlined arrangements, toward even more punch and compactness in the songs themselves. Hence the feeling that the new album is more »vocal« than its predecessor, even more musical.
This time around, too, you can hear distant echoes of Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gov`t Mule, Tedeschi Trucks Band,… but otherwise, as already mentioned, the band keeps effectively deepening their recognizable sound with the new album. The rhythm section is active (inventive in its solutions throughout) and dynamic, often padded out and loosened up with extra percussion, just like on the studio debut. The guitars bring the basic musical blanket, but in the instrumental passages the sensitivity and finesse of maestro Tomi Perinčič sparkle again. With deft solo seasoning and a whole arsenal of guitar embellishments draped over the lead phrases, he effectively shakes up the otherwise predictable format of the songs. His stylistic input largely decides what El Kachon’s music looks like. All the keyboards, except for the piano that Neisha contributed on the fourth track, A Drop of Moonshine, were played this time by the excellent Serbian musician Nenad Patković, otherwise the guitarist of the Novi Sad band Šinobusi. Mostly in a velvety, warm manner that imitates the sound of Hammond organs and »old-school« electric pianos. Given that El Kachon and Šinobusi have been friends for years, bringing in Patković to help out on the album turned out to be a kind of logical move, since a musician who’d been tied to the band for a long time could sense exactly what the band wanted and demanded of him.
Judging by the last two new videos and the new singles for the songs Klic and Ples zagrnjenih zaves, and by the announcement that El Kachon will put out a new album this year (at least that’s what could be read between the lines of the promo texts from the label Celinka), it’s not hard to suspect the band has a complete Slovenian-language reworking of this album up its sleeve, effectively a kind of reissue. These two songs (Slovenian versions of English ones found on the album »Permanently Lubricated Nuts«) hint at a certain amount of tinkering with the existing arrangements of the album’s tracks, which is logical and, with moves like this, not just welcome but downright necessary. What the full third album will bring remains guesswork, but we’ll get our answer this year. Evidently a re-release of »Permanently Lubricated Nuts« in a Slovenian version is on the horizon.
With »Permanently Lubricated Nuts«, El Kachon don’t even surprise anymore. The new album cements the recognizable position they already carved out on the Slovenian music turf, boldly and bravely, with their debut. With their distinctiveness and individuality, El Kachon remain an excellent filler of the genre gaps on the Slovenian music scene. And a very high-quality one at that.
Lineup
Tina Gerbec Radaković – vocals
Tomi Perinčič – guitar, vocals
Andrej Barbič “Krt” – guitar, vocals, harmonica
Dejan Gerbec Radaković “Sondža” – bass guitar
Žiga Dobravc – drums, vocals
Primož Malenšek “PimpS” – percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Nenad Patković – keyboards on tracks nos. 1-3 and 5-10
Neža Buh “Neisha” – keyboards, vocal arrangements on track no. 4
Mitja Novak – lap steel on tracks nos. 2, 4, and 10.
Production
Dejan Radičevič
Track List
1. Call
2. Strawberry Blonde
3. Mr. Brown
4. A Drop of Moonshine
5. Took Too Much
6. Love for a Dime
7. Harry Balls
8. Home
9. Funny Stories
10. Say What You Mean
