Rococo

Hailing from London, Rococo formed in the 70’s as a progressive alt-rock band, before re-forming in the 21st century (sans original member John ‘Rhino’ Edwards). Showcasing the brilliance of original members Ian Raines and Roy Shipston, plus Tym Scopes and James Fox, the band now have a more rockier, funkier and jazzier sound to them, including seemingly endless guitar solos.

Losing Ground, their latest offering and their third release on Angel Air Records. Opening track ‘Losing Ground’ incorporates elements reminiscent of artists like Steely Dan – it’s well-paced though you can tell the band originated in the 70’s… the song is soaked in an infectious 70’s sound vibe.
‘Manhattan Horns’ has a slightly more mellow feel to it, yet a punchy groove ensures an overall danceable beat.

Track 3, ‘Blue Movie Star’, harkens back to Benson-esque type riffs (‘Breezin’ springs immediately to mind). Slick and crunchy, this one is probably the most commercially sounding affair on the album.
As for ‘Night Drivin’, one is tended to think “yeah great, a bit of jazz funk!” Pity there’s not a guest solo spot from great jazz trumpeter/funkster Freddie Hubbard. Mind you, he’s dead and so are the Seventies!

Now on to the longest track on the album, ‘Motel Gypsy’, demanding almost 8 minutes of your attention. A complex structure, and even more complex, not to mention poetic lyrics, will make this difficult to remember or memorize in any way. That said, E.A. Poe may well have appreciated and identified with the somewhat morbid prose. Lead vocalist Ian Raines does a fair job on the vocal front, though one can’t help wondering whether he may have initially been trained as an actor… in view of the length of the songs lyrics.

Poor ‘Street Boy’! He seems to walk in circles and never arrive at his destination. By that I mean the track plods along nicely but without much excitement throughout the journey. ‘City Life’ seems to be in the same mould (ever thought of moving to the country?).

Guitarist Tym Scopes must have had some fun on ‘Cold Turkey’ – lots of penetrating guitar solos and a stretch! Get up and shake that ass!

We get a rather short instrumental with ‘Air2Air’ – at the same time we get to hear some nice bass work from James Fox.

A heavy keyboard sound (courtesy of Roy Shipston) dominates throughout ‘Baby J’ – it is a number that rolls on like a song from a musical production, which is debatably a good way to end an album.