THE ARISTOCRATS: Duck (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Apart from their incredible virtuosity, the one thing that can never be taken away from The Aristocrats is their unfailing sense of humor, both on stage and on album. The only instrumental band to have (proudly) obtained the Parental Advisory sticker (on the packaging film of their first opus), the trio now debuts their fifth album, "Duck", which they describe as a concept album... entirely instrumental. The story, if it exists at all outside the musicians' potty minds, tells of the misadventures of a duck fleeing from a penguin policeman to New York, and the track titles play with references ('Sittin' With A Duck On A Bay', 'And Then There Were Just Us / Duck's End'). It's funny and offbeat, but this sense of humor doesn't prevent The Aristocrats from becoming increasingly musically elitist.

Certainly, Marco Minneman, Bryan Beller and Guthrie Govan can afford to be, and from a technical point of view, "Duck" is, as it should be, a brilliant album. For those who love complex rhythms and Dantesque solos, it's even vertiginous in its virtuosity. As has been the case since the band's inception, each member of The Aristocrats has composed three tracks, each with their own jazz-rock influences. The trio's musical color remains relatively unchanged, even if Guthrie Govan increasingly pays homage to Franck Zappa ('Hey, Wheres's My Drink Package?'), proving once again to those who listen closely that he is without doubt one of today's greatest guitarists. The solos on 'Sgt. Rockhopper' and 'Slideshow' are enough to convince you.

But Guthrie Govan will always be a firm believer in improvisation, an exercise in which he particularly excels, which constitutes his musical identity and which, all too often, prevents the listener from fully embracing the concept. As a result, the impression of listening to a gigantic jam between three extraordinary musicians far too often takes precedence over the pleasure of listening, and certain tracks such as 'Sittin' With A Duck On A Bay', 'Here Come The Builders' and 'Muddle Through' suffer cruelly from this. It's a real shame, because the album's opening tracks - 'Hey, Wheres's My Drink Package?', 'Sgt. Rockhopper', 'Aristoclub' - are simply stunning, especially 'Aristoclub', composed by Bryan Beller, who shows that his long tours with Joe Satriani have left obvious melodic traces.

"Duck" is a very good album, but it is aimed first and foremost at musicians, who will be the only ones to truly appreciate its full richness. In this sense, it's interesting to compare it with Marty Friedmann's "Drama", also recently released, to put into perspective two totally opposed musical approaches, one centered on a technical claim that sometimes borders on onanism, and the other entirely focused on the listener's listening pleasure. It's not a question of choosing sides, but of noting that for some bands - and this is the case for The Aristocrats - doing only what they want to do, and composing only the music that interests them, can keep them in a kind of secrecy they don't deserve. - Official website

THE ARISTOCRATS

DUCK

AUTRE LABEL

ROCK