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Jennifer Gentle
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Valende
Sub Pop Records
Release: 1/25/2005
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Rated:
Review by:
Jason Warner
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I am a big fan of 60's psych and garage rock. The Nuggets
compilation is my personal mission statement for rock and
roll. I love the Elephant 6 Collective and have always been
a huge fan of early Pink Floyd, and by early, I mean
pre-The Wall-era. When you mention early
Pink Floyd most people automatically think Syd Barrett era,
crazy psychedelic experimental pop songs with whacked out
rhyming lyrics, ice pick guitars and spastic British accents
done in the style of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Well, my
friends, Jennifer Gentle was not content to be influenced by
Syd Barrett, they decided it would be more fun to actually
try to become him. They even took their name from the
lyrics of the Syd Barrett penned Pink Floyd song, "Lucifer
Sam," which incidentally would have been a much cooler
name for a band.
Valende was released in 2005, but it could
have just as easily been recorded in 1966. The two
permanent members of Jennifer Gentle, Marco Fasolo and
Alessio Gastaldello, come from Italy, not a country
heretofore known for its psychedelic rock music.
Valende, their first US label release, was
recorded by the duo in their basement in Padova, Italy, just
as their two previously self-released albums. Jennifer
Gentle is a fan of the lo-fi sound and made great use of a
variety of odd instruments in crafting Valende.
The crazy sounds they made caught the ear of the folks at
Sub Pop, and now the boys are gaining a fan base in the US
and Britain.
Let's talk about the music. Valende is a
playful, whimsical collection of pop songs that would truly
make Syd Barrett happy. The album opens with the lazy
swinging "Universal Daughter," a nice tune that introduces us
to the Italian fellows disguised beneath their British accents.
The song features a nice backing track from the kazoo and
Fasolo sings that "everyone is envious to the extreme."
Indeed. The next track, "I Do Dream You," picks up the
pace, throws in some tasty organ, and features a helium
balloon solo. Very psych, very playful, and very poppy.
This is the song that sold me on Valende, and
kept me coming back for more. Other standout tracks
include the beautiful two part, "The Garden Pts. 1 and 2."
These are dreamy tracks with echo filled vocals, slowly
strummed guitars and sparse percussion that recalls
Atom Heart Mother era Pink Floyd. However,
not all of Valende is fun and games.
"Hessesopoa" is a 7-minute plus noise track full of
experimental havoc reeking and not much else. But, don't
worry, Jennifer Gentle is not taking themselves too
seriously. On the closer, "Nothing Makes Sense," they shift
gears into hyper speed and end off with a true Chipmunks
style vocal effect that leaves you chuckling all the way
home.
Now, while Jennifer Gentle give more than a subtle nod to
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,
Valende is an album that stands on its own two
feet without any help from Syd Barrett. This album is full of
some very dark and mysteriously beautiful psych pop, as
well as creative instrumentation and a very particular
production style. Jennifer Gentle knows they are not
reinventing the wheel, but in a way that's what makes
Valende such an original album. |
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