London Underground ‎– Space Edition 2LP

GaGeGi Records / Fruits de Mer Records ‎(CRUSTACEAN 89)

London Underground are an Italian beat/pop/prog/psych rock band formed in 1998. They have released four CD's in between 2000 and 2018, and Space Edition is their first vinyl outing. On the first LP you can find a slightly reprogrammed version of their latest, instrumental album Four and the second LP is comprised of stuff lifted from the three other albums, so this release in in fact a compilation. And a really good one as it is! I had never heard of these groovy progsters before and am enjoying their sounds a lot.

The first three tracks "Billy Silver", "Three Men Job" and "At Home" are all rather peaceful, soulful and chilled-out, very nice and smooth. I can find some Pink Floyd vibes but not just that. I love especially the use of organ and synthesizers. "The Comete" has more of a smokey, jazzy feel to it, very groovy but still mellow. "What I Say" sounds like some long forgotten late 60s prog/jazz fusion band jamming, cool. "Ray Ban" is another jazzy, groovy piece and "Tropic of Capricorn" written by Brian Auger is a clear indication where a big part of their inspiration must come from. Very nice! The over 7-minute "Jam" ends the first LP in a marvellous way with some pretty intense playing by the whole band.

"Fanfare" is a heavy prog Arthur Brown cover and works really well here as well. The older London Underground songs usually are shorter and also have vocals. "Squadron Leader" is a pop/mod styled energetic and happy song, "Mass Babtizer" a bit more progressive and interesting for me. "Can't Find the Reason" (originally by Crane/Farlow) is a beautiful, peaceful track and then it's time for another burning, funky, jazzy Brian Auger cover "Ellis Island". "Everything Is Coming to an End" has a bit of The Who vibe I guess, not bad at all. One of my favourites is the next piece "Honey Drops" that has a hypnotic, instrumental groove going on with some great Mellotron etc. "Dharma for One" is of course a Jethro Tull cover but the band more like make it their own. Arzachel is one of the best 60's psych rock bands and their "Queen St. Gang" one of the most idyllic instrumentals of that time. Here London Underground makes a bit like a trip hop version of it and I like the update. The energetic jam "Faster and Faster" ends the album and makes you want to hear more. This is real killer package of groovy, psychy, jazzy, proggy moods inspired from the late 60s / early 70s but updated to our age in a very successful manner. Dig it! The album was sold-out on preorder, but if you are lucky, you can still find a copy...

www.facebook.com/londonund