Review: ZOFFF - FFF / Crayola Lectern - Happy Endings

Two albums, two opposite ends of the psych spectrum, both excellent....and both from the same stable. ZOFFF were undeniably one of THE standout acts at the Liverpool Psych fest last year, following on from the superb 'Kozfest MMXVI' album on Drone Rock last year. May sees the release of a new album 'FFF' and this time it is the wonderful Deep Distance label that plays host. Crayola Lectern is the "piano-based oddness" of Chris Anderson ("a vehicle to see Chris Anderson through to the (hopefully not too) bitter end. A creation to grow old inside. A safer place where nurture, kindness and generosity of spirit do not go punished and where creating a thing is unfettered by convention, where opposites attract and where nonsense holds its own wisdom") who also wields the bass in ZOFFF, indeed the line-up for both is pretty much the same: Alistair Strachan, Damo Waters and Bic Hayes with Jon Poole and Bob Leith being drafted in. For the best description of what they sound like - "what psychedelic music would have sounded like had the Edwardians invented it." ...intriguing. The new album, 'Happy Endings', is "an optimistic look at death" and is out on June 1st via Onomatopoeia Recordings.

'FFF' has 6 tracks, all with one word and somewhat esoteric titles - speaking to Chris from the band about this and the title of the album, he remarked "The title FFF hints at ‘very loud’ in musical terminology and is a bit of a light-hearted, subconscious prod to people to spell the name right (lots of people spell it ZOFF).The titles of the tracks are phonetic spellings / pronunciation of the letter F in different languages." So now you know!. 'Ye' gets things going, opening with some pulsing electronica and blasts of melancholic brass which combine to create an atmosphere rich in dread and foreboding. This scene setting is a bit of a red herring truth be told; a tattoo of drums interrupts the warbling electronics and heralds the onset of a sublime ten minute epic that flits between groove filled kosmische jams and mind-bending electronica. It is a track that never settles, instead constantly morphing and evolving...it is a real trip (in whatever sense of the word you care to choose). 'Vav' takes that same basic recipe of kosmische jams and synths but sprinkles it with lashings of motorik goodness and the result is a delicious and deeply hypnotic track that is as erudite as it damn groovy. 'Har' is a short (3 min) affair but seems to pack a great deal into a short amount of time....pulsing bassline, metronomic drums, oscillating electronica and enough spacey effects to soundtrack a year's worth of NASA docs. 'Dig' opens with some eastern tinged horns and a fizzing hum redolent of vinyl static. The track as a whole has the feel of a groovy, jazz informed krautrock number with the skittish drums and melancholic horns but the little flourishes of electronica and subtle underlying drones add a different dimension. 'Ca' is a short but uptempo track with a glorious motorik rhythm and a spacerock vibe going on, my only complaint is that just a tad over 2 minutes it's way too short. 'Zeta' closes the album with a laid back jam - a pulsating bass dominating things and providing a groove laden framework over which the guitar weaves its spells and some cacophanous electronic effects give things a spacey vibe. The electronica grows in intensity until it is very much centre stage, throwing the listener off-kilter and the track becoming akin to the soundtrack of a psychotic mind, but then sanity is restored and the chilled jam of the beginning sees the track to its logical conclusion.

'FFF' sees ZOFFF doing what they do best, namely improvising around a theme and playing with the tropes of psych and krautrock - there is nothing predictable about this album and certainly, to me, that is a very good thing. That the guys in the band are superlative musicians is a given (again, if you've ever seen them live...wow!) but what is heartening to me is this willingness to bend and build on 'accepted' structures and sounds. In short, 'FFF' is bloody good! It has pretty much everything you need from an album. The word on the street (well, Dom from Deep Distance) says that 7th May is looking likely as a release date so keep your eyes firmly affixed to the Deep Distance Facebook page here for details.



As mentioned, Crayola Lectern and ZOFFF are pretty much interchangeable personnel wise but they really do sit on the opposite end of the psychedelic spectrum but both extremely engaging. While ZOFFF are big on improvised jams, Crayola Lectern are very much based on the 3 minute song, however both play with and stretch the parameters of their chosen structure. 'Happy Endings' opens with 'Rescue Mission' and what a delightful to start it is...piano and horns combining to produce one of those exquisitely English pastoral psychedelic songs that made the late sixties such a joyous time...the vocals have a distinctly Robert Wyatt vibe to them that lift this from being what is essentially quite a melancholic song into something else completely...lovely stuff. From there on in we are treated to a succession of bittersweet musings which go from the stark melancholy and piano based 'Submarine' to the whimsical and jolly 'Lingeron' calling at all stops between. There are some real oddities thrown in for good measure - 'Barbara's Persecution Complex' is based on some old fashioned ragtime piano which is accompanied at varied time by brass, high pitched buzzing like a wasp caught in a glass and some electric guitar. It's conclusion is a cinematic opus of crescendo, brass and emotion...a genius piece of songwriting disguised as something frivolous and light. Elsewhere we have the folky 'Giant Moon Up In The Sky', the bombastic and prog based 'Lux' and rounded off with the short but dense and multilayered 'Finale'.

I really enjoyed 'Happy Endings', it is an album that, despite its subject matter, constantly brought a smile to my lips. It harks back to a simpler and more innocent time and for that I salute Crayola Lectern, however it has more ideas on one album than some artists have in a career and Anderson is totally unafraid to just go with his instincts with regard to structure and instrumentation. Lyrically it has liberal doses of humour, whimsy and irreverence while also having a keen edge at times. For those who avidly collect everything that Fruits de Mer put out, cast your nets a bit wider and feast your ears on this - it has that same wide-eyed splendour that a lot of the FdM artists have. 'Happy Endings' is out June 1st via Onomatopoeia Recordings. Whilst there is no media available just yet for 'Happy Endings', you can get a good idea of what to expect from this, the debut album 'The Fall And Rise Of... Crayola Lectern'...enjoy!