Frogg Cafe - Frogg Cafe (2001)

Excellent seems to be an understatement to me. A monumental surprise. Instrumentally we have: Violin, Trumpet, Keyboards, Bass, Guitar, Drums and three vocalists. The music ranges from jaunty Irish jig to frenzied Zappaesque guitar squalls. Odd meters and slippedy-quick rhythm changes, poetic lyrics and harmony filled deliveries. They also have a rabid cult following all along the US East Coast…. and spreading fast. The Frogg Cafe is catching on faster than Paris Hilton's thong collection. The production, though remastered, is still a bit flat.

Deltitnu is a stunning instrumental, violin figures prominently. Old Souls has a jazzy vocal line with some 70's Zappa refrains that sound like witches burning at the stake. Candy Korn comes in two movements and shows the leasons learned when Frogg Cafe existed as a Zappa cover band. The trumpet solo takes you to some old Miles territory. Touches of Gentle Giant, Echolyn, Happy the Man and JL Ponty make their way into the mix. The Ponty moments really shine in While You Were Sleeping, jazz piano seeps in, the drums and bass keep this greasy and smooth then segues right into some scathing guitar work. Stuttering and biting. Sweet. Old Man has that cutting violin doubled by guitar that sounds so slick. Unfortunately the vocals drag a bit on this tune, but the melody is very good. Space Dust makes me think, "What if Jean Luc Ponty played on a Bruford album?" Cool, understated fusion. Questions Without Answers contains a piece of Zappa's "Inca Roads." The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I'd recommend this disc to any fan of Zappa, Gentle Giant, Soft Machine, Happy the Man, Echolyn or any band talented enough to inject some jazz into their sound.

Just wait, their best, CREATURES, is even better!

by Dan Bobrowski, progarchives

Frogg Cafe Biography

FROGG CAFE are a Long Island quintet who started off as a ZAPPA cover band, (aptly) named LUMPY GRAVY. Their material is a strong slice of uniquely American prog, an innovative blend of ZAPPA featuring MAHAVISHNU-like violin, CHICAGO-style brass choirs and hints of UNIVERS ZERO. Their music alternates from light, airy piano and violin parts to darker, intense guitar passages, creating a dynamic contrast; the use of the trumpet also adds interesting tonal colours.

Their eponymous album, released in 2002, is complex yet surprisingly accessible, only marred by a poor production (the drums sound a bit muddy). The excellent "Creatures", released a year later, is a definite step up, perhaps stressing more on the 'progginess' at the expense of 'jazziness'. It's a complex and symphonic affair, filled with tons of offbeat melodies and instrumental brilliance, with funky keyboards and percolating bass lines often serving as a backdrop for electric violin, trumpet and guitar soloing with the occasional intrusion of woodwinds. It also features a 20-minute epic masterpiece in the vein of early 90's ECHOLYN.

Definitely recommended for Canterbury fans, especially the excellent album "Creatures".

~ progarchives