You might have noticed that I’ve been listening to a lot of classical progressive rock or prog fusion. That’s no accident. Progressive rock was my main egress into music; I grew up listening to bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Camel and more. The beauty of this opening sentence is that all of these bands are relevant when we come to talk of Karmic Juggernaut with a dash of Primus and Frank Zappa to boot. Intrigued yet? You should be; these psychedelic weirdos are taking no prisoners. Featuring bassist Cody McCorry and trumpet player Joe Gullace from Thank You Scientist and a newly added vocalist, Karmic Juggernaut daftly and wildly weave between classic progressive rock, the kind of off kilter weirdness of the aforementioned Frank Zappa and just straight up greatness. Head on down below for a taste!
Come on, how can you resist the opening groove on this track? And those trumpets? “Krokodil” is a fantastic example of the type of stuff you can expect on this album: the bass is loud and wild, the vocals have that vibrato which made a generation of singers famous in the 70’s, the overall vibe is frivolous without sinking into outright silliness and all the instruments converge together on a massive slab of chair dancing. Other places on the album, like the excellent and more classic prog influenced “Frunoblax” or the even more fast paced “Robotnik” show case the wide range which Karmic Juggernaut utilize on The Dreams That Stuff Are Made Of, their latest release. It’s chock full of fun, exciting and bewildering moments of progressive goodness.
On “Robotnik”, the Zappa influences, especially on the vocals and their inflection are even more obvious. This dynamic energy works extremely well with the quiet segment near the end of the track, where, led by the synths, the track goes dreamy and expansive. Pay special attention to the fantastic backing vocals and their harmonies; if you listen closely, you’ll find some really cool ideas in there. Bottom line, this album tickles that soft spot for progressive rock that isn’t scared to not take itself too seriously and have some fun while still displaying a great touch for songwriting and technical playing. If you’re intrigued (and you should be), you should check it out for yourself; head on over to the band’s Bandcamp page above to snag it!