31 August 2024

LONDON UNDERGROUND – Live at the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival (2024, LP FdM Winkle 54)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Fruits de Mer Records

Format: LP, Limited Edition, Black Vinyl

Format: LP, Limited Edition, Splatter Vinyl

Release Date: 13 August 2024

My beloved neighbors, the Italian beat/pop combo London Underground – formed in Florence in 1998 – are back with their 5th release, a Live LP album recorded last year (August 2023) during their headline appearance in Wales at the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival. Of course, it is released through Fruits de Mer Records and the label’s press release says:

“40 minutes of classic Italian, keyboard-led psych/prog – live in concert! London Underground were formed in December 1998 in Florence by Gianluca Gerlini (Hammond, piano, Mellotron), Daniele Caputo (vocals and drums), and Marco Piaggesi (bass), although the origins of the band stretch back to the classic Italian progressive rock band Standarte (if you don’t already know it, please check out Standarte’s version of ‘Queen St. Gang’ for starters).

The band began by recreating the British underground/psychedelic sound, with a touch of 60s rhythm & blues, based around the Hammond sound that Brian Auger and George Fame are synonymous with; even the band name was intended to pay homage to the amazing music that was played in London during the late ’60s. 25 years on, and despite a few changes of personnel along the way, Gianluca and London Underground remain true to that sound.

We were finally able to get the band over to the UK last year, to headline the Fruits de Mer summer get-together in Wales – the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival.

They went down an absolute storm and if you give this album a listen you’ll appreciate why – they were just bloody wonderful. We hope they will be back over to the UK very soon, but meanwhile, we have 40 minutes of a great gig, on vinyl, to enjoy – classic instrumental psych/prog”…

The album consists of 6 tracks, original and cover versions, and it kicks off with “Billy Silver”, there’s a cool melody played by the piano and some distinctive spacey-electro effects while the band slowly and progressively dives deeper and deeper into a transcendental Progressive Rock soundscape, improvising and trying to get lost inside the coolness of that early 70s Prog era, the magnificent Organ sounding makes you shaking all over… “Fanfare” – an Arthur Brown and Vincent Crane track that needs no further recommendations – is simply a fantastic track, played with passion, combining Brian Auger’s freshness and Keith Emerson’s coolness, a fascinating Organ-dominated track with a pinch of Canterbury influence. “Honey Drops” moves into the same “Progressive Rock” direction but is a bit more complex, it sets the scene to the late 60s and early 70s UK Prog Underground while it brings to memory bands like Egg or Arzachel! Side ‘A’ ends most excitingly with a cover version of “13 (Death March)” a track written by Gary McFarland and originally presented in that COOL LP of 1966 “Jimmy & Wes – The Dynamic Duo” by Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery, a tremendous instrumental R n’ B cover with lots of “Auger-isms” and a typical-by-now London Underground atmosphere! Side ‘B’ opens with another cover version, “Bumpin’ On Sunset” (a Wes Montgomery 1966 7-inch single), an Organ (of course) dominated track with cool jazzy vibes all over under a Soulish and kind of Proggy vein, Wes meets Brian… The album closes with the 10-minute long “What I Say”, a rather rhythmic tune, dynamic, full of guitar outbursts, full of Organ outbursts too, while some improvised electric guitar is added as the track evolves, becoming extremely weird towards its end, how cool is that? So, “Live at the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival” is a fine Live album that first of all makes you wanna regret not being there that night, but it also makes you wanna “search” or “explore” that Italian band that goes by the name London Underground… And I strongly advise you to start with the remarkable “Space Edition” double LP from 2019 (check my review here) TimeLord Michalis