Salmon (Bang! Records)

The salmon spends much of its life swimming upstream against the current, driven by some inscrutable biological imperative to battle against the prevailing natural forces. Likewise in his many musical guises Kim Salmon has never done things the easy way, and his music has always benefited from his willingness to take a risk. Rarely though has the line between madness and genius been so obscured as with his latest release. In 2004 he assembled a band comprising himself and five other guitarists and two drummers. The nine tracks here from those sessions are astonishing. Even if he meant it as a monumental pisstake (Six guitars? Pwah!) there’s no denying the hypnotic, thundering grooves. The drumming by Clare Moore and Mike Stranges is of the most basic yet effective variety, and what passes for vocals are mostly sampled shouts and chants. The album is rounded out by 13 tracks recorded live last year at the Sydney Metro, which are good but lack the emotional clarity of the original nine. This is must-have music for lovers of heavy rock. Salmon launch Rock Formations at the Northcote Social Club next Wednesday.

 

Jeff Glorfeld - The Age EG Friday May 18, 2007

 

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SALMON

Rock Formations

(Bang! Records)

 

A friend of mine once described Wolfmother as Dead Zeppelin - or was it Led Purple - and professed nothing but spit and bile for the band's well worn (but celebrated) collection of neo-70s riffs, screeching vocals and iconic rock theatrics. The same objection can be (and is frequently) hurled at Airbourne, and a host of other rock revivalist bands that have achieved local to significant success in the last few years. Sometimes it's simply a matter of irony - you either see it, or you don't. In a post-modern world, objective truth is waste of time and money.

 

Kim Salmon's six guitar, two drum rock 'n' roll hydra Salmon is a grab bag of neo-70s riffs, screeching vocals (albeit computer generated) and iconic rock theatrics. But, unlike his artistic juniors or pale imitators, Salmon has actually thought long and hard about this particular celebration of the power of rock.

 

Rock Formations - released on the Melbourne-ophile Basque label Bang! - captures the beast in two different settings. The first part of Rock Formations is recorded in the captivity of a relatively sterile studio environment. It's a survey of rock through the ages:

 

Punk Fatwa is the perfect punk rock call to arms, a melting pot of manic drum beats, grinding guitars and patented Salmon screams. Prog Suite II, by way of immediate (and chronologically ironic) contrast, is a bruising slog through the quagmire of 70s progressive rock. It Wears A Kilt is glam rock in a glittering jar, and Licensed to Rock is the soundtrack for a journey through the suburbs in a hotted up Monaro. Speed Metal Rocker is where most teenagers find themselves after a skinful of cheap vodka and an armful of Black Sabbath records, and Alien Chord Ostinato is mood music for the metal generation. Cheap and Nasty (based on a song written originally by Salmon and Dave Faulkner in their Perth punk days) is a fist-waving primitive punk ode, and The Axes of Evil might be labelled pretentious if it didn't come armed with a big stick of hard rock riffage that'd scare the bejeezus out of the most hardened long-haired bogan.

 

The second part of the album sees Salmon unleased in its natural live rock 'n' roll environment, with a show recorded at Sydney's Metro theatre in early 2006. As well as the tunes on the recorded part of the album, there's some other live favourites, including Blue Oyster Cult's ETI (Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), the grinding and gyrating 13th Bar Blues, two minutes of free form guitar self-indulgence in 2 Minute Noodle and the uplifting prog rock love of Guitarmony Suite. To cap it off there's a throbbing rendition of the Surrealists' Non-Stop Action Groove, complete with Kim's distorted electronic introduction of the band members. Save for the occasional technical and sonic glitches, this is the Salmon beast in its most appropriate and comfortable state.

 

The contradiction that lies at heart of Salmon - a barrage of macho rock riffs as tightly choreographed as an Albert Hall orchestral performance – is also Salmon's intrinsic attraction. In fact, it's arguable that on this album Salmon has achieved with appropriate levels of irony what many of his contemporaries continue to strive for without acknowledging their tongues should be in their cheeks.

PATRICK EMERY – Beat Magazine May 23^rd, 2007

 

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