II

Personnel: Juan Pablo Rodriguez (vocals); Domingo Garcia-Huidobro (guitar); Alfredo Thiermann (piano, synthesizer); Diego Lorca (drums).
Recording information: 2012.
With Föllakzoid's second album, the band fits right in with the dark, labyrinthine sounds of Sacred Bones' roster. Like Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips, and fellow Chilean post-psych group the Holydrug Couple, the group specializes in long-winding space rock jams. While the tone of II hovers somewhere between coolly detached and downright lonely, the music manages to work itself into solid, driving, syncopated grooves. Delay pedals, chilly electronic reinforcement, and drones galore weave aimlessly around extremely repetitive song structures, usually revolving around a two-note bassline, a single chord, and a Motorik drum beat. Many musicians look to the past for ideas, and it's obvious that on top of `60s psych rock and space rock, Krautrock (Can's Future Days in particular) proves a huge inspiration on the group's sound. Vocalist Juan Pablo Rodriguez sings in a disconnected, intermittent style, much like Damo Suzuki, and the synthesizer and guitar combo is used for atmospheric textures to slowly build to big oceanic washes and then drop down again. "Pulsar" sounds like a sinister cross between the aforementioned Can and Joy Division, for which drummer Diego Lorca delivers a steady kick snare beat for a sprawling 15 minutes. Everything is long running, hazy, evocative, and seemingly on the verge of falling apart. But it never does. For a mere five tracks, this is some mind-expansive stuff, and a great listen for anyone looking for spacy background music with a dark edge. The cover pretty much says it all. ~ Jason Lymangrover