Member:
ffroyd
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by ffroyd)
Date:
8/31/2003
Format:
CD (Album)
TriPod is a band from New York City that boasts they are "A hard-rocking trio with NO GUITARS and NO KEYBOARDS!" Is that allowed? Can they do that? Well, I must say the can do it and they do it very well. You won't miss the keyboards or guitars at all, either. The band consists of Clint Bahr on vocals and 12 string bass, Keith Gurland on saxes and other wind instruments, and Steve Romano on percussion. There are elements here that are reminiscent of Van der Graff Generator or Soft Machine but mostly they have a unique style that's all their own.
When I first put this CD on I strangely recognized it...then I realized it was a song from their last CD. That was also called TriPod but now that the band is on the Moon June label they had the chance to re-record a few of the songs from that disc. The sound quality on this one is much better as well; the older material has been revitalized and the new songs sound very fresh.
One of my favorite tunes on here is "Dance of the Kabuki" which reminds me of some of the jazzier moments of King Crimson's Lizard album. The sax playing throughout the album is very unique. I'll admit that I'm not used to hearing the instrument in such a rhythmic capacity but it works very well. He does get the opportunity to stretch out with solos and leads a bit too which is really nice. "East Flatbush" is a fun little electronic percussion piece which serves as an intro to the hard-rocking tune "Buzz". Some of the lyrics are a bit hazy but it's not really such a problem when the music is so good. Without a doubt, the high spot on this CD is the instrumental "Smoke and Mirrors". This is a wonderfully mellow, "smokey" tune with some wonderful soloing from Keith. I'd love to hear a whole albums worth of this kind of stuff from these guys. The album's closer "As The Sun" was one of the highlights from the last CD and the updated version sounds even smoother.
TriPod is definitely an original band with a bright future. There's no brash guitar work but they can be very heavy, no lush keyboards or synths but they do have a distinctively progressive sound. Kudos to Leonardo Pavkovic of Moonjune Records for picking up this talented trio.
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