If (via Discogs)
If is a band I’d never heard, though I’ve a memory of seeing the records around, or perhaps adverts in the music press. They tend to be billed as jazz-rock, and I was interested to take a listen to this, their first album. I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed it, though with reservations.
The jazz-rock genre description is misleading. Several of the band have jazz credentials, but the music is a hybrid of several influences (I am avoiding the word fusion because that carries baggage). I heard bits of folk, r’n’b, jazz and pop in here together with a hefty dollop of Motown. Instrumentally, rather like Caravan, it is in that very UK thing of virtuoso playing that doesn’t really fit in any pigeon hole, something I associate symbolically with the arrival of King Crimson in 1969, but was definitely in the air at the time. I heard hints of Van der Graaf Generator, hints of Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
To the extent it is influenced by jazz, I think it is more of a sensibility, though the guitarist favours the classic Gibson neck pick-up clean tone of the jazz guitarist.
I listened a couple of days ago and enjoyed it but wasn’t sure overall. Today I enjoyed it more while remaining unconvinced by the vocals which are ‘of their time’ and sometimes melodically simplistic.
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