Artist: Black Bonzo
Title: Self-Titled
Label: B&B
Format: CD
Price: $13.50

Sometimes even I ask, “Jim, WHERE do you find this Swedish stuff?” In this case the recommendation comes directly from Mattias Barjed of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Start with the cover. It looks like an early ‘70s Vertigo Records design with a green haired siren holding aloft an orb that contains what can only be the singing (screaming?) faces of the long-haired quintet. Classic. The song titles are reminiscent of Wishbone Ash. You got your “Lady of the Light,” “Brave Young Soldier,” and “Where the River Meets the Sea.” Jon Lord isn’t credited but Black Bonzo sounds like they lifted Deep Purple’s classic organ sound straight from Machine Head. You want contemporary comparisons? There’s a slight nod to TSOOL’s more quiet numbers like “Grand Canaria” from Welcome to the Infant Freebase, and what I love about Norway’s Motorpsycho; extended arrangements with varied instrumentation that doesn’t lose sight of “the song.” Then there’s the “let’s-write-a-song-that-could-appear-on-Queen’s-Sheer-Heart-Attack” track “Freedom.” Spot on harmony guitars and multi-tracked vocal choruses propel it past pure nostalgia. This is a rock album with prog tendencies that sounds like it came from the time before we felt the need to call it anything but ROCK. You come to Parasol to discover bands you’ve never heard of. Don’t leave without this one.