Fuzziliers
Sail The Seven Seas
*** out of *****
The debut full length from Fuzziliers, Sail The Seven Seas was recorded over four years while the band were immigrating from Saint-Petersburg, Russia to Istanbul, Turkey for political reasons after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The nine song collection has roots in 60's based acid rock, 90's Brit Pop and is also heavily influenced by modern indie-rock, genre mashers like Man Man.
The core group of Slava Lobanov (lead-vocal, guitars, bass, synthesizers, trombone) Semyon Fedotov (drums, percussion, harmony vocals) Georgy Kopylov (piano, organ, synth, back-vocal) are joined by a few friends throughout, as their sound is overloaded with layers of guitars, synths, vocals and percussion.
Opening with the title track, the band stuffs a ton of tempo changes and genre shifts in the fashion of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard or Phish as they whiplash from style to style before wrapping up the brief effort with a jazzy finale. While the head spinning opener may have too much going on, "Goodnight" is a straight ahead rocker in Oasis fashion as weepy guitars drip while the drums crash and rock.
Things get a dose of late era Beatles mixed with Harry Nilsson (as well as some sounds from a passing carnival) on both the yearning "This Is Love" and the more overloaded "Mention Me" which uses excellent trombone work from Lobanov. The Beatles influence looms large throughout the record even on "Dirty Unicorn" which feels like a Ringo focused track as Kopylov takes on lead vocals.
The banging indie-pop with layers of modern sound comes crashing through on "Try" with bright blasts of guitar and more triumphant trombone work, while "Lullaby" is all revved up 60's glory with a big guitar solo and crashing changes. That energy also soaks through for the rocking album closer "No No No" which burns with energy as the band seems to channel a bit of White Denim's experimental/indie power.
When Fuzziliers try to play it more direct, such as on the Misha Pashkov bass driven "Never Let You Down", positive results are found, but the band can't sit still and add an overloaded, rising climax to close the track. While a bit more restraint would certainly help focus the songs, that is not in the groups plans as they throw everything into the mix and mostly succeed.
A solid first effort from Fuzziliers who combine their freak-out pop rock with classic rock touchpoints and catchy choruses, delivering vibrant music throughout Sail The Seven Seas.
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