Izakaya Heartbeat
Enter - Rainbow Lake
Handmade Records/Musikkoperatørene/Phonofile

Izakaya Heartbeat sounds super-cool (or, at least hip and trendy), and works pretty nice as a band name. According to wikipedia: 'An izakaya (sake shop) is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking.' Well, bring in the oshibori and the disc, then.

Izakaya Heartbeat is said to play 'Krautpsychedelic noise rock'. They're a combo with a family-tree with branches out to members of a number of bands: Serena Maneesh, Le Corbeau, Epikurs Euforie, Burning Motherfuckers, Deathcrush, Mindy Misty, Far From Tellus, Radio 9 and many more. Enter - Rainbow Lake is their follow-up to the acclaimed debut Ancient Asobi/In Arcadia.

Enter - Rainbow Lake (which are the titles of the first and last song) was mastered by Kramer (Mr. Shimmy Disc, and a number of bands, counting Shockabilly, Bongwater, Butthole Surfers, B.A.L.L., Ween, Half Japanese, The Fugs, ++) at his Noise Miami. A lot of bands has been dropped when describing Izakaya Heartbeat, such as Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Trumans Water, Unwound, Can, and more. The opening track "Enter" is most def sounding a bit like SY, and there are guitars working throughout the album quite clearly inspired messers Moore and Ranaldo. They sound cool and they often stomp on into highly suggestive monotony. Yet, they tend to repeat themselves in the song writing and the creation of musical universes. Highlights: "Minutes and Days", the epic closing track "Rainbow Lake", not to forget the short "Euphoric Riot".

As said, some cool stuff, but not cool all the way throughout the album. I guess they're probably having a more hypnotic effect when performing live.

PS! Later there will be released a DVD holding music videos for all 8 tracks.

Copyright © 2013 Håvard Oppøyen