Simon RushworthThe Alligator Wine – Demons Of The Mind (Century Media)
Two people.
No guitars.
A Krautrock experiment for 2020.
Welcome to The Alligator Wine.
On paper it sounds like the worst idea ever.
But pumped through a pair of heavy duty speakers at the dead of night, Demons Of The Mind is utterly engrossing.
There’s the familiar refrain of a booming Hammond organ.
The monstrous weapon that is a Moog bass.
And drums designed to raze tower blocks.
Throw in the odd – and even odder – sound effect and The Alligator Wine will quench the thirst for all things bizarre and brain mulching.
Emerging from the Black Forest like two feral beasts, Rob Vitacca and Thomas Teufel are rooted in the 70s.
Taking their lead from the experimental rock, kitsch horror and hippie fashion of the era, Demons Of The Mind is a retro treat.
Lorane is a brooding ballad of sorts and it’s hauntingly good.
It’s hard to tell whether Crocodile Inn is seriously self-reflective of pure comedy.
Either way, it’s an album highlight.
And disturbing set closer Sweetheart On Fire is the ultimate anti-love song.
Vitacca and Teufel are like Simon and Garfunkel on magic mushrooms.
All natural flair and bell bottom flares, their crazy sound is impossibly alluring.
Imagine Led Zeppelin without the pressure to sell millions of records.
Or The Doors leaving just enough of a gap for wild experimentation.
The Alligator Wine are drunk on dizzying ambition and soaked in silliness.
We’ll take a four-pack.
Actually, make that a keg.
