Something good is happening in the Israeli music scene. A lot of bands from the "underground scene" are making impressive accomplishments, producing quality albums and touring abroad, getting the recognition they deserve. I think the day one band makes it really big abroad, which will lead to Israel being recognized as a "musical power", and have the eyes of the world set on it is not too far. My money is on Eatliz, but like I've written in a post last week, a band like FeelAbout could just as well be it. All it takes is one big hit.

Squid – self titled

Squid is one of the first bands to really have a chance to brush up with American stardom. By the power of MySpace, Squid caught the attention of Fredy Polania, a young American filmmaker who participated in Steven Spielberg's reality show On the Lot, was so impressed with the band he decided to come to Israel and shoot some videos for them. Are they really that good?

Yes, they are. After listening to their debut album for over a dozen times, while fully knowing that this is an Israeli band, I can honestly say that if someone had told me that these guys went to high school with Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Jarvis Cocker and the Coombes brothers, I still would have fallen for it.
 
Squid have managed to amass thirteen excellent songs, all following the Catchy, not cheesy rule. Lead singer Nir Geva, who is also responsible for all of the lyrics and the music, is a mature and clever songwriter, who knows exactly how to find the perfect balance between words and melodies. The album was self produced by the band, recorded and mixed by drummer Boaz Wolf. Squid is the ultimate alternative rock band, which means that they pretty much do everything from hard rocking riffs to power ballads, Irish folk and even Indian music, while wrapping it all with tight arrangements and good old fashioned crunchy guitars (and by old fashioned, I'm referring to the 90s, of course).

Geva's vocals are impressive as they are multifarious; he knows how to be callous on the heavier songs, and how to be gentle and emotional when things calm down. While standing on his own, his voice feels like a mix of Ex-Rockfour Eli Lulali with Lulali's spiritual father John Lennon, and a pinch of U2's Bono. All are admirable singers (well, except for Bono), and Geva is no different. He is a master of his instrument, but he doesn't let it go to his head. His voice serves the songs, and not the other way around. Every melody is placed carefully in its right place. Every song has a distinguished feel to it, a variation in arrangement style, while keeping an undeniable unified sound. Each one of these songs could be a massive hit, all providing a different and original hook. It's not that the style is groundbreaking. The songs are not innovative, but they are original to the full extent of the word.

 I was also very impressed by the lyrics. Geva has a way of expressing himself with simple words, but again, in a non-cliché way. The music serves the lyrics – and vice versa. The lyrics speak of personal experiences, exhaustion from the trials of modern life, side by side with personal growth and dealing with different types of relationships, all portraying the thoughts of a man who struggles to live life to the fullest. One of my personal favorites is the chorus of quicksand: Dragons don't come here anymore / what is a knight without a war? / There's something you have to understand / you can't build a castle on quicksand. I find myself humming this song and other songs from this album all day long, and that's something Squid can definitely write up as a success.

Panic Ensemble – self titled


Roy Yarkoni has made some sort of a name for himself in the global progressive rock community, with the release of the debut album of "RIO" band Ahvak in 2004 – although that's somewhat of a questionable reputation. I've said many things about Ahvak in the past, so I'll sum it up with a sentence: Despite Yarkoni's clear musical talent, it's a long, excruciating headache.
 
I expected Ahvak's cacophony to linger on in Roy Yarkoni's latest project – Panic Ensemble, which by its name alone promises you exactly that. But it's not – it's much worse. Despite an eight-piece line up which includes synthesizers, laptops, guitars, an accordion, viola, and trumpet, Panic Ensemble's music is dry, vacuous, and quite frankly – boring.
 
The album begins with a mellow electronic loop, which is followed by a surprisingly lame guitar picking chords in the tritest manner. It is introduced together with Yael Krauss, the former singer of one of Israel's craziest live acts ever, Hot Fur. I'll have to be frank: despite Karuss's obvious skills and musicality, I never understood why people are so keen on her. If someone ever decides to stab me in the ear with a sharp knife, I imagine it would sound exactly like Krauss's voice. Somehow she manages to include every possible annoying frequency audible to man within her squeaky, breathy, over-dramatic voice.

 After four minutes of this torture, everything quiets down, and suddenly I become aware that I'm actually listening to Pink Floyd's Shine on you Crazy Diamond. A single electric guitar playing a four note atmospheric riff, what we call in the biz implied plagiarism. It only goes on for a while, developing in a completely different manner, and then simply ending. Okay, so it's not like the beginning of Dream Theater's Octavarium, which was a complete rip off, but still – I wonder what it was all for.

Second song, another loop, accompanied by some very annoying chimes that play every possible note except the ones that actually belong to the musical scale that Yael Krauss's overdubbed voice shrieks on. I guess they thought her voice wasn't annoying enough - they had to record it twice.

I won't continue with a run-through of the entire album, because quite frankly, I don't want you to suffer as much as I did. I'll just say that Panic Ensemble successfully combines several detached musical styles, from Jazz, electronica, French chansons, traditional Jewish and Middle Eastern music – all of which I have absolutely no desire to listen to, together or apart. There are some slightly interesting songs on this album, with some good melodies, the production is adequate and the band seems to have its own sound and premise, but it all pales compared to Krauss's disturbing voice. The album's most prominent feature is the lyrics, provided by poet Karen Alkalay-Gut, which is pretty interesting, but again – not enough to distract me from the flat savorless music and Yael Krauss's gallingly piercing screeches. Fans of annoying, pretentious, weird for the sake for weird music will eat this up with delight, though. Much like Ahvak received a lot of attention in the progressive music community (for better and for worse,) I expect Panic Ensemble to get its share of international recognition as well.
 

Missflag – To Infinity

I had the pleasure of being the opening act for these guys at the Douglas last week, and by the end of the night we exchanged albums. Missflag are perhaps the band that has made it more than all of the new underground Israeli bands, after several tours in the US with over 60 concerts and an album produced by LA Based producer Guy Erez.

Their first break in Israel was due to a successful national tour of Coldplay tributes, which has definitely had an impact on Missflag's music. The band continued with their music, releasing their debut album To Infinity last year. Some might say they are copycats. But after listening to their album non-stop all weeklong, I can say that such a remark is purely superficial. Missflag's sound is indeed crafted around the concept of Coldplay's sound, but as composers, they are far much adventurous. Coldplay's introversion into the world of shallow pop music prevents them from ever writing a sophisticated song like Hidden Thieves, for example. Maybe in the first album, they might have had the guts, but no longer. Missflag pick up where they left off.