Friday, October 22, 2021

Music Review: Gamma Repeater

I am not that familiar with progressive rock. 

Nevertheless, there is a strong endorsement for Portland prog (and art and electronic) rock band Gamma Repeater on their Bandcamp site:

This has become one of my all time favorite albums. Could listen to this over and over. The prog rock influences are distinct. 20th Century Tourist feels like King Crimson, Good Intentions is Genesis (Trick of the Tale era), Dinosaur starts out Pink Floyd but heads into Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Deaf blind is so catchy and my favorite track. The last track is like Yes.
All prog rock fans should listen to this and you’ll see for yourselves how great it is. Love it all. Favorite track: Deafblind. -- jbjohnson61

As evident from the text, that review is specific to their 2020 albume, Reverser in Neutral, but I think  people who like Reverser in Neutral will like 2017's G.R. as well.

I had a hard time orienting myself with the music at first, but then I heard some similarities to Ray Manzarek's organ playing in the Doors. 

Yes, there are some psychedelic accents in Gamma Repeater's music, but the emotional content does not feel as akin to the Doors. 

There is a sort of wordy storytelling to it that is almost folk-like, so maybe Donovan. I had initially thought that the tension was more puzzlement than danger, but with tracks like "Novocain" and "Superego", well, arguments could be made.

 So I think that makes Gamma Repeater interesting to listen to regardless, but my biggest takeaway is that -- even though I could not know it on my own -- I trust that in fact fans of prog rock should check them out.

https://www.facebook.com/gammarepeater/

https://gammarepeater.bandcamp.com/ 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkDibN3fOU9iFDUvMBtBjYQ/videos

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