Leading this revival/revolution in Cypriot rock music are Arcadian Child, a quartet from Limassol consisting of Panagiotis Georgiou (vocals/guitars); Stathis Hadjicharalambous (guitars); Andreas Kerveros (bass); and Constantinos Pavlides (drums). The band have almost single-handedly put Cyprus back on the musical map with two scintillating releases, "Afterglow" and "Superfonica", releases that jam grooves drawn from a love of late 60's psychedelia, 70's hard rock and the more current stoner/desert/ heavy psych scene. With these releases the band have garnered a growing following among those that have their fingers on the pulse of international rock music, a following that we have no doubt will increase with the release of the bands third album "Protopsycho" (Ripple Music)
Traditional Cypriot folk music has been very much influenced by its proximity to the countries it is surrounded by, elements of Arabian, Greek and Turkish music have all had a huge part to play in shaping the countries traditional sounds. Arcadian Child have always been aware of their musical roots and on both of their previous releases the band have attempted to integrate elements of those sounds into their own music. For "Protopsycho" however the band have taken those sounds and instead of integrating them into their more westernized grooves they have turned things around by pushing the more traditional sounds of their homeland further to the fore.
Prime example of this shift in Arcadian Child's dynamic is the new albums opening track "Snakecharm" a beautifully performed opus with a strong middle-eastern vibe that is evident in both its instrumental execution and vocal styling, it is a vibe so strong that if you close your eyes you can almost visualize the dancing of a snake as it weaves and sways mesmerized by the hypnotic music and the carefully considered movements of its charmer.
"Wave High" follows a similar path to its predecessor but this time the band mix things up a little by throwing a little westernized stoner crunchiness and heavy psych colouring in for good measure, if Desert Psychlist were asked to pick a single for the purpose of promoting this album then "Wave High" would be our choice.
"Sour Grapes" is up next, a song that sits somewhere between being a mournful ballad and a melancholic torch song that for the most part is atmospheric and moody but then takes on a more strident dynamic as it reaches its close.
The lower key mood set by "Sour Grapes" continues with "The Well" its sitar like guitar intro making way for a song, that despite its underlying middle-eastern motifs, has an almost Scandinavian feel in that it has a colder winter feel than the rest of the album and evokes images of wide open spaces and cold wind swept tundras.
"Bitter Tea" is the shortest song on the album and boasts a part narrated, part sang vocal incanted over a heady lysergic groove that slowly builds in intensity incorporating catchy and clever little hooks as it does so.
"Bodies of Man" finds Arcadian Child reverting back to being the stonerized psychedelic rock band they were on their first album "Afterglow" only they've come a long way since then and so there's a little more complexity and a lot more musicality about their rockier songs these days.
"Raisin' Fire" is a superb song that once again finds Arcadian Child mixing their rock with their ragas, it is also the song that finally answered a question that has been bugging us since we first chanced upon this band, that question was who were we reminded of when hearing Panagiotis Georgiou's sing? The answer that came to us (you can and probably will disagree) was another Greek Cypriot , the legendary Cat Stevens.
Title track "Protopsycho" brings things to close, it is a song that is not at all "proto" or for that matter particularly "psycho" its basically just a damn fine song to bring to a finish what is a damn fine album!
Arcadian Child are a band evolving at an alarming rate and the new album "Protopsycho" is testament to that evolution. Once upon a time if you mentioned Cyprus in a conversation concerning rock music the first name on anybody's lips would be Aphrodite's Child, not anymore however because there is a new Child making music beneath the warm Mediterranean sun and this one's Arcadian!
Check 'em out .....
4/10
ReplyDelete