Freak Kitchen – Cooking With Pagans
Freak Kitchen are a swedish trio lead by the prolific guitar virtuoso Mattias IA Eklundh. Twenty years after the critically acclaimed Appetizer, the band release in 2014 their eighth album. The previous album dating back to 2009, the wait was worthwhile, as Cooking With Pagans contains twelve little groovy gems.
Freak Kitchen bear a nonchalance and a sense of derision that make them endearing. With its clever blend of energy, melody and humour, their music is an instant hook.
On Cooking With Pagans, there are no acoustic balad and no instrumental track. This time, the three lads go straight to the point with their merry blend of groovy foot-tapping rhythms and catchy choruses. And the formula makes sparks fly. The musicianship is top-notch. First, Mattias continues to amaze us with his “alien” guitar delivery, yet without forgetting to give his solos a melodic turn where appropriate (the beautiful sparkles on Mathematics of Defeat, the hypnotic layers on Hide). Then, with the overpresent chops of Björn Fryklund, it’s hard to escape dizziness, in a positive way of course. The voices are enthusiastic, sometimes maybe too much (listen to Mathias sing at the top of his lungs on Professional Help), while the choirs help the band climb the stairway to a bright heaven. Freak Kitchen know also how to laugh at themselves, and the lyrics (“l’m getting sloppy, you’re getting sloppy, we’re getting sloppy-py-py…“, “testicle tattoo“, “I’ve got what is mine and you’ve got yours“…) associated to some funny guitar solos here and there, remind us of this particular feature of the band. As on the previous album, elements of indian music (tabla, zither) are discretely present (Freak of the Week, Once Upon a Time in Scandanavistan), but they simply spice up the music more than they give if a different turn, the band keeping the testosterone-driven approach all along the record.
From the devilish rock’n'roll of Goody Goody to the crushing groove metal of (Saving Up For An) Anal Bleach and the rhythmic funk metal of I Don’t Want to Golf, the band gets a kick out of their playing, and we get a kick out of listening to them. It’s good to see that our three wacky Swedes haven’t lost an inch of their energy, humour and creativity.
Tracklist:
01 Professional Help
02 Freak Of The Week
03 Sloppy
04 Goody Goody
05 (Saving Up For An) Anal Bleach
06 Private Property
07 Mathematics Of Defeat
08 I Don’t Want To Golf
09 Hide
10 Come Back to Comeback
11 Ranks Of The Terrified
12 Once Upone A Time In Scandinavistan
Line-up:
* Mattias “IA” Eklundh – vocals and guitar
* Christer Örtefors – bass guitar and vocals
* Björn Fryklund – drums
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