Electronic Sound May 2015 (Regular Edition) | Page 30

ALBUM REVIEWS

Cloud’ melded with the new psych of
White Fence or Wooden Shjips and you’ll
get the idea.
The lead track, ‘Electric’, opens with the
weightiest of synth thrums, conjuring
underground rumblings of tectonic
proportions. A juddering melody
immediately hooks you in, before the
propulsive bass guitar of Juan Pablo
Rodrigues pairs with Diego Lorca’s
motorik percussion to form an uptempo
locomotive groove that’s hard to resist
– and which pretty much sets the tone
throughout.

FÖLLAKZOID

III

SACRED BONES
Proof that we all need a touch of Chilean
kraut-psych in our lives
In a previous issue of Electronic Sound,
Faust’s legendary keyboard man Jochen
Irmler urged young musicians to follow
his band’s credo and aim to compose a
cinema of the imagination. He’d no doubt
approve of this lot, who’ve surely crafted
the perfect soundtrack for a fictitious
epic drive along some ancient Atacama
autobahn.
‘III’ is the follow-up to Föllakzoid’s 2013
breakthrough album ‘II’, which opened
up many a third eye to the Chilean krautpsych group’s intense take on infinite,
groove-laden sonic exploration. It’s hewn
from similarly dense cosmic matter to its
predecessor, though this time the focus
– heavy on monochord and steadily built
reiteration – is more clearly defined and
consistent.
There are just four tracks in total, each
with an average length of just over 11
minutes. Devotees will dig this and
the newly acquainted shouldn’t take
much persuading, particularly if they’re
conversant in the language of the
kosmische pioneers of yore. Think Neu!’s
‘Hallogallo’ or La Dusseldorf’s ‘Silver

There are many welcome and well-judged
switches of pace and texture to enjoy,
though, particularly on the outstanding
‘Earth’. It’s led by Domingo GarciaHuidobro’s guitar, which chugs along
nicely in the background until its sudden
crescendos break out beautifully from
the disciplined momentum. Elsewhere,
particularly on ‘Piure’, his playing
transforms the initial Teutonic emphasis
into something else entirely, hinting
at the inward-looking explorations of
The Doors or Explosions In The Sky.
On ‘Feuerzeug’, his delicate, sparingly

reverbed noodlings even bring to mind
Vini Reilly from The Durutti Column.
And then there are the keyboards. In
what could be one of the album’s
masterstrokes, the band have partnered
with German electronic master Atom TM
to flesh out Alfredo Thiermann’s synth
parts and provide added texture. Used
with great subtlety and bringing depth
and complexity at key moments, the
synths are what sets ‘III’ apart from its
forebear, embellishing with understated
washes of elan without ever dominating.
Lyrical content is minimal on this album,
by the way. Only the merest of blank,
mumbled incantations from Juan Pablo
Rodrigues here and there. But they work.
Importantly, however indebted to
its obvious references it might be,
Föllakzoid’s sound is rooted in something
more. Hypno-narcotic and heavy on the
one hand, there are also refracted echoes
of meditative Andean ritual, all of which
makes it feel not only substantial, but
startlingly new too.
CARL GRIFFIN