You have to be careful with psychedelic drones. When done correctly they can be amazing, on other occasions you can be left with a dull and sludgy mess; basically it all comes down to an understanding of the genre (or just plain luck). Barcelona's Jinko Vilova have that understanding, I don't think we can put the success of their EP 'Cru' down to luck. Perhaps you can fluke the odd song, but not five in a row. Many usual comparisons apply: the guitars on opener 'Gasoline' could come from Spacemen 3, but unlike that band, Jinko Vilova use drums as more than an occasional afterthought and here the rolling, tumbling beat that accompanies the analogue squelches and sheets of distortion come from early '70s electronic and krautrock pioneers, although it's far from motorik.
That comes next and the insistent beat of 'Nasty', more uptempo, like a guitar-heavy update of Neu!, this track has more prominent vocals too. After the opening rush of those two songs, the title-track locks itself into a deeper psych groove with a meandering bassline and more sedate vocals. It hangs around long enough to gradually build into something more fierce by the end of its eight minutes. On the much shorter 'Last Beat' they change direction totally and blast out a seismic piece of post-punk with plenty of venom; it's strangely danceable. The oddly named 'Please Don't Leave Your Luggage Unattended' dives back into a psychedelic groove and mixes it with jazz, adding a new twist to the genre, and it's a struggle to find a suitable comparison but it works brilliantly, definitely embracing the spirit of adventure that Eastern European bands used forty years ago. All told, 'Cru' is an exciting and innovative EP and a welcome new discovery.
Jinko Vilova's website
Stream or buy the EP
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