A picuresque description of The Strawberry Smell and their audio expression would be: Four “droogs”, hopelessly lost in the bubble of the time continuum, isolated from the real world, in the “Clockwork Orange” ambience, where all the women are called “Barbarella”, left to their own self and to their parents’ record collections that hadn’t increased since around ’68, when the time had stopped for them!?!
From the sound-point of view, this description results with a combination of high-octane energy and harmonic constitutions, as something that once discerned the similar bands at the end of the sixties from something that’ll soon wear the “hard rock” tag.
All of this is spiced with a bunch of old-fashioned space-synth trickery, perfectly incorporated in the melodic psych-pop concept, making the album an essential retro-futuristic soundtrack.
A bit untypical for this album, Odorama opens with a set of half-acoustic arrangements with discreet Rhodesound and some prog-synth effects. The first is Zensong #9 with a Fanclubby Beatle’65/’66-formula, and then goes the Brit-psychedelia prototype called Friends Of Da Teenage and World Of D, with the effective guitar/keys double-riff.
The “quadrophenic” intro of Ira leads into the screaming Small Faces- Hammond sound, which brings us to The Strawberry Smell’s authentic post-mod form which also suits Balthazar, a possible result of Oasis taking over the “tin soldier” role instead of the “walrus”.
The dominating popsyke tones continue through Lovag’s House Of Life based on Macca’s “rainy” bass patent as well as through Valentine’s Butterflies and it’s Hammondized freak-out finale, that’s also featured in the Kula Purple workouts Soopasound and Simple Quiet Day.
A little more relaxed, cosmic approach can be heard in the space-ballads Footprint On The Moon and Cosmos & Infinity, that even allows a short Wilson-like instrumental break to sneak in, while the definitive article of The Strawberry Smell concept is formulated in the lyrics of the power-pop classic, Slave Of The Time.
Assembling, here and now, the traditional sound of the times gone by and something that’s waiting for us in the future, The Strawberry Smell gives a considerable contribution to the belief that looking forward definitely has the sound of the past.
[Released by Rainbow Quartz 2001]
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