Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Vibesonic Jam
Label: Self-released
Release: 2015
Runtime: 42:22
Rating: 4/5
The Ptuj-based instrumental trio Vibesonic Jam returns to the scene after six years with the follow-up to their studio debut »Egotrip«, which came out in 2009! That debut was a nice bit of variety for the Slovenian music scene. With it, Vibeosnic Jam signaled that the music world had spawned yet another oddball who couldn’t care less about trends and makes music strictly the way they feel and perceive it. Totally their own thing.
The lineup stays unchanged. A trio, in other words. A trio of seasoned gentlemen. On the album »Surfunig To The Moon« they stay fully instrumental. Considering that Vibesonic Jam already proved on the debut that it’s impossible to »stuff« them into any one genre mold, the follow-up keeps that »endearing« fragmentation, delivering exactly what the band’s name already hints at. A full and in many ways downright primal dose of improvisation. Because the sound stays so incredibly alive, or organic (there’s a noticeable »garage« flavor to it), this album was surely mostly played in one go (first take, like a little concert in the studio), with precious little patching together in post-production. While the guitar riff on the new album again holds up a satisfyingly massive wall of sound in the background, there’s a ton of room up front for melody, which is often handled by Bernard Pintar’s lively, dynamic bass line. The band tries out several rhythmic turnarounds per song, which adds a sense of spontaneity and »trip-oid« vibes and reinforces the element of »surprise«. Besides programmed loops on guitar, Zlatko often makes use of mic feedback, which he uses as a contrast to build up the soundscape itself and to dramatize individual moods.
The genre »turning points« are there, and they get along nicely with each other, so let yourself be surprised and let the music seduce you. All in all, Vibesonic Jam are building a calling card of alternative instrumental rock groove, and given the repetition of some leading motifs across the songs and the »dreamy trip-oid quality« that can lure you into a world of its own if you manage to let yourself go, on the album »Suring To The Moon« they also flirt more seriously with elements of so-called post rock. Listening to the new album once again evokes feelings of psychedelia, as well as a »space rock« hangover (the album has a more than fitting title).
The song titles aren’t just »pulled out of thin air«. The band tries to capture a song’s character, bring it to life, and so take the listener through seven stories, seven separate entities. That’s why the mood shifts between these stories are clear. The opening Peacock Dance already spins lively, in a wild, at times downright »rabid« seething rhythmic kinetics, and in feel it’s not hard to picture a crazed peacock »suffering« under the weight of its testosterone. The most accessible track on the album is Holidays, which unfolds »lazily« and creates a feeling of ease, with a pinch of Mediterranean flair sneaking in. Since we Slovenes have been tied to the Balkan peninsula one way or another for centuries, which shows in our music-making too, it’s no surprise the band decided to put a track on the album whose musical bearing breathes distinctly »Balkan«. Decently beefed up, of course, with guitar, or rather with that real Vibesonic Jam »oomph«! Hence the more than fitting name (Balcanoiser).
Want the ideal pairing of two bands for a mini tour of Slovenia? Dubzilla and Vibesonic Jam! »Surfing To The Moon« is, as I said, a charmingly loose album that, despite its many excursions into the world of improvisation, quickly creeps into your ear. Even though Vibesonic Jam are light-years away in expressive terms from bands like Hidria Spacefolk, Kingston Wall, Quantum Fantay or Ozric Tentacles, fans of those bands could very easily »adopt« them and slot them into their favorite musical repertoire.
Lineup
Milan Murko – drums, drum machine
Zlatko Kuret – guitar, guitar loops
Bernard Pintar – bass guitar, synth, PC
Production
Vibesonic Jam
Tracklist
1. Peacock Dance
2. Noisy Wind
3. Angel’s Dream
4. Water Drop Rainbow
5. Holidays
6. Balcanoiser
7. Tumbleweed
