Father Figure – ‘Heavy Meddlers’ [Review]
I was first introduced to this album by Falsense – and now, let’s just say that I owe him a lot of drinks. I already spend much of my spare time listening to fusion and prog bands – many of whom have been written about in this very corner of the interwebs – and my standards have been driven consistently upwards by the outstanding contributions that have already come my way. Nonetheless, Father Figure meet (and frequently exceed) those standards with a borderline terrifying effortlessness.
Father Figure’s Bandcamp biography describe the five-piece as “Melody Wizards” and “Rhythm Mages”, while on Facebook their home genre is given as “Spicy crockpot”. Well, to that I say: Why the fuck not? Much of Heavy Meddlers sounds blissfully akin to the Mahavishnu Orchestra offering guest spots to contemporary acts, from the perhaps predictable Mars Volta to more unexpected masters such as Rodrigo Y Gabriela and the Cat Empire’s horn section (especially on third track Bolt From the Blue). Old-school fusion vibes permeate throughout Heavy Meddlers (and that title does prepare you for some kind of jazz-rock-related experience), but it’s nonetheless impossible to definitively nail the multifarious goings-on into a single particular pigeonhole.
Put simply, Heavy Meddlers is the sound of five musical heroes doing heroic musical things – and it’s little wonder that they’re managed by Captain America.
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