Motorpsycho - You Gotta Hang On To The Trip You're On...

"Let's teach these Eindhoven bands how to rock!" These were the words of Motorpsycho singer Bent Soether just before starting their encore at last year's gig in the Effenaar in Eindhoven, Holland. With this remark he pointed obviously to Eindhoven-based bands like 7Zuma7 and Candybar Planet, which play(ed) some serious kick-ass rock'n'roll. But the masters indeed showed how it really has to be done when they hit it off with 'Heartbreaker'. Hearing was believing that evening, and the same goes for 'Barracuda'. On this 33-minutes, seven-track mini-album (recorded at the same time as 'Let Them Eat Cake') Motorpsycho goes back to the glory years of rock, the late sixties and early seventies. This results in some obvious tributes to the Who, Led Zeppelin, and almost every other significant rock band from that era. Again, the rock action begins with 'Heartbreaker', the most amazing and groovy and energetic blues-rock song I've heard in years. The following 'Up Against the Wall (High Time)' is a true hommage to the Who, and, although this isn't one of Motorpsycho's finest moments, the energy and enthousiasm make up for that completely. 'Star, Star, Star' is a funky and soulful rock song, packed with horns, just like the above- mentioned opening track. 'Vanishing Point' is clearly influenced by the legendary seventies movie about the man cruising at warp speed straight through the USA, followed by the authorities. It's an up-tempo rock'n'roll song, and you'd better not play it in your car if you don't want to pay speeding tickets. But they left the best for last: 'Dr. Hoffmann's Bicycle' and 'Glow'. The first is the only track that reminds a bit of the epic tracks Motorpsycho always produces, and it's actually an older song ('97 or '98, if I remember correctly). The second, 'Glow', has that laidback kind of feeling that was also present on 'Let Them Eat Cake', but this brilliant song is much heavier than the rest of the 'Cake' material. Funny, some time ago I wrote to Arien - the Kindamuzik webradio man - I found this new Motorpsycho too standard and too cliched, not the normal Motorpsycho level, and he agreed with me. But since then I've been listening quite a lot to 'Barracuda', and they just did it again: Motorpsycho released an incredible album. It took me some time to get used to, but now I can't get enough of it. After the pop from 'Let Them Eat Cake', the avantgarde jazz-rock from 'The MotorSourceMassacre', and now the kick-ass rock'n'roll from 'Barracuda' (which was actually meant for a joint release on both Stickman and Man's Ruin, but the latter fucked up), one can hardly imagine where their trip is heading this time. Look forward for the "real" new album, which supposedly comes out in September. Oh, and a big thank you to the mighty Stickman for producing such a brilliant vinyl edition.

Bas Ickenroth