There's an ongoing debate in the BrightonsFinest office about what should constitute an album or an EP. I'm a nineties kid, raised on Brit-pop, so I tend to be the one who expects twelve tracks or more and half that for an EP, although I may well be alone in this! So I was initially (perhaps naively) surprised to find only 6-tracks on Jungfrau's debut long-player on Head of Crom Records. However 'Nacht' at 37 minutes certainly qualifies, after listening through I can happily say it sounds like a fully-fledged body of work and a great opening statement from this Brighton band. Jungfrau describe themselves as psyche-kraut, which is about as accurate as it comes: a fresh breed of psychedelic Krautrock driven by solid staccato bass-lines, atmospheric drumming, dark moody playing from the keys and guitar with a very distinctive powerful female vocal that is much more PJ Harvey than Florence Welch. The overall effect is very convincing, like a modern Jefferson Airplane with an obsession for the macabre. It also reminds me more than a little of Esben & The Witch without sounding derivative – they would work well on a tour together.
Jungfrau is one of the summits of the Bernese Alps. They are also a fantastic Brighton band with a brilliant new album: 'Nacht' – which is out on February 16th.
The album starts with a new version of 'Age Well' – whereas the single version, currently downloadable from the bands Bandcamp page, sounds like it could have been recorded by a single mic in the corner of a noisy venue, here we are introduced to the sonic breadth of the record. A clear steady bass guitar tone and well-articulated drumming supported by long-ringing guitar chords and synths. It's one of those songs that sounds like an ever-repeating, constantly building intro – it builds and builds around the same hypnotic bass riff until a lead guitar motif emerges from the sludge at around the three minute mark. It's when the guitar backs off again about a minute and a half later that it really starts to affect me, as the song settles down and Hanna Grasskamp's insistent, declarative vocal begins to smoulder and soothe a little.
The song slowly descends back into the primordial ooze it emerged from and then 'Cardboard Girls' follows, with open guitar chords and a distant, distorted vocal. Track two is an epic ten minute sprawl with a beat that sounds like it could have come fresh from Mogwai's 'Come On Die Young'. As you might imagine it's a slow build, with the guitar taking centre stage at first, backed by a more subdued bass and guided by those vocals: a Valkyrie wailing in the distance. After three minutes there's a long snare roll to break the tension, it isn't quite as confident and steady as it needs to be but that's soon forgotten as it unleashes a storm of powerfully distorted guitars – a full on moment which then breaks things back down with some surprising major notes and unexpected blue notes. The song continues in it's downbeat mode, with flourishes of atonal, experimental guitar playing soaked in long delays. It's a real slow burn, I had been anticipating a song in parts with such a long length but this piece just slowly, menacingly grinds to a close.
'Red Wine Head Slammer', ending side one of the LP, seems like a musical interpretation of a vicious hangover. There's an insistent rock steady, repetitive disjointed groove from the bass and drums while saw tooth guitars and vocals wail expansively. After two and a half minutes the bass part doubles frequency and things pick up a gear before tumbling to a close on a last hint of the original motif. It's vicious and possibly my favourite piece on the album.
'Pink Towers' begins side two with some creepy synthesised sounds and deep dark fuzz bass. It's a very atmospheric number, those muggy tones are contrasted by clicking rim-shots, tight snare and distant, haunted vocals. 'Straight But Pale' comes in next with a bang and a wallop after the slow fade, hitting you right in your face on a motorik groove that wouldn't have seemed too out of place on the recent Dark Horses album. I love that big, fuzzy repetitive bass. 'We Hiked' is the last number on the album, beginning with rolling cymbals, staccato bass and a guitar riff full of dark mysticism. This time the drums hold back letting the guitar and bass fill the space whilst the vocal soars above. This one never really ascends out of the mire, preferring instead to stroke us with ringing percussion and atmospheric reversed guitars.
'Nacht' is a solid début album and should be a big hit for fans of dark, mesmeric psychedelia. Turn it up loud to soundtrack your next dark night of the soul! I'm looking forward to seeking out the next Jungfrau live appearance as I reckon this sort of atmospheric, intensity will really come to life on stage. Ooh and for all you vinyl fans they've got clear green vinyl 12” LP's in Resident Records available now – nice.
Adam Kidd