An Albatross is one of the craziest progressive rock bands I’ve ever heard. Make no mistake, they are very much part of the punk rock / grindcore / screamo scene of the early 2000s…but they are so much more.
An Albatross first come on my radar when they released We Are the Lazer Viking in 2003. They called it an “EP”, but the definition is a stretch as the whole 11 song thing flies by in just 8 minutes!
Here it is:
Like I said the whole thing just zooms past you and is over before you know it. They pack a ton of riffs and ideas into those 8 minutes though.
An Albatross toured very heavily behind the record. Not only in the United States but throughout Europe too. Over the course of many months they honed their craft, getting tighter, faster and more complex. The touring culminated with an appearance on John Peel’s BBC Radio program. They played 5 songs, including two new ones (“Hairobics” and “The Ballad of the Electric Coyote”). It’s a great example of a touring band that is playing like a fine-tuned machine:
While We Are the Lazer Viking is mostly punk and math rock based you can hear more of the progressive rock influence on the new songs. These were included on their next album that went all-in on the prog! Even down to the convoluted title: Blessphemy (Of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear Warp Kumite) This record from 2006 is today’s pick!
| Don’t Miss A Pick! |
|---|
| Do you want to get Phil’s Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? |
| Do you like being social? Follow Phil’s Phriday Picks on Facebook. |
Blessphemy is epic in scope compared to We Are the Lazer Viking. They still blaze through the songs, but they are longer with more intricate parts that stick around a little longer. Even still, it’s 18 songs zipping by in less than a half hour. The best way I can describe the record is basically this: What if you took the Yes album Relayer, threw it in a blender and played it at triple speed, while re-recording Jon Anderson when he has an extremely sore throat.
One of my favorite songs on the record is “Dimensional Gymnastics” which really sets the expectations for those who are unfamiliar with the music of An Albatross in this era:
Another tightly composed epic is “Trust the Sun, The Symphonic Sunrise”. There are enough distinct parts in these two minutes for an entire record by other punk rock bands. The tightly played starts and stops, a show-stopping organ solo with the drummer basically soloing underneath and a ton of tempo shifts. Yes!
“Sacred Geometry” is another standout. This is mainly because they basically play the whole tune with a mid-tempo disco beat. It’s still crazed though:
The album also contains the previously mentioned “Hairobics / “The Ballad of the Electric Coyote”. Here is a cool fan-made video I found of it that adds further dementia with the visuals:
Another Blessphemy song that got the fan video treatment was “I Will Swim into the Lazer Eye”:
An Albatross took the show on the road again to promote Blessphemy and they continued to steamroll everything in their path. For example, there they are playing “Hairobics / “The Ballad of the Electric Coyote” for some sort of TV show:
Unreal!
While there are plenty of full-concert videos of An Albatross during this era (many worth checking out) I’ll just highlight one additional great one. This is An Albatross performing “Lysergically Yours, My Psychedelic Bride,” (from Blessphemy) and “Let’s Get on with It!” (from We Are the Lazer Viking):
An Albatross continues to occasionally record and tour. They put out one other full-length record and a single in the years since. They are good but neither of them reached the bonkers heights of Blessphemy. An essential record for people who like their punk rock and progressive rock mixed together (like me!).
