Uarrgh 2
Don't let the title of this – the comic book sound effect of somebody violently vomiting in a bucket - put you off. Fuzz Noir's debut is anything but a nauseating experience. This Austrian quartet have a keen sense of sound and vision, their furious rock fusion attack is constantly causing flurries of abstract pattern to emerge from behind the music which, on the first hearing, seemingly veers in the direction of Hot Rats-era Frank Zappa and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. As the various instrumental patterns lock into place, however, a more complex set of sound pictures gradually takes shape. The flurries of what initially sounded like straight ahead jazz figurations become more fragmented as the players become bolder and more confident, solos are punched out, and the bare musical bones of Fuzz Noir eventually flash out to reveal a band with real muscle. Super cool one minute and avant garde fusion the next. Uarrgh 2 has the power to open a lot of different ears. (Edwin Pouncey, Jazzwise)