Land Of Chocolate - Unikorn On The Cob

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Slipt Disc Records
Catalog Number: SDR12400-2
Format: CD
Total Time: 60:10:00

Land Of Chocolate is yet another off-shoot from the talented guys of Echolyn. This time it's Jonn Buzby (brother of Christopher Buzby?), along with Brett Kull producing. In any case, Land of Chocolate definitely sounds Echolyn-ish, the music being quirky and complex, with a strong concentration on vocal harmonies. But the songs themselves move in different directions than what might be typical of Echolyn compositions, meaning that you get to have your cake and eat it, too: great rockin' prog in the tradition of Echolyn, but with a new sound. How can you beat that?

Most of the music either drives hard, such as the tracks "Musical Findings" and "Upping The Ante," or takes on a funky edge, as in the tracks "Waiting For The Go" and "Double Standard Booth." Bits of jazz flavoring pop in and out of the tracks, too. As you may have guessed, there's a lot going on here, plenty to keep prog-heads coming back for multiple spins, with new discoveries always around the corner. Still, although several of the tracks are in the seven- to eight-minute range, no epics make an appearance -- which just goes to show that you don't need to compose huge suites to write successful prog.

Along with the trickier songs, there are a couple of gentler tracks, like the melodious "Walk Fast," which, despite the prog heritage, would satisfy listeners with more mainstream tastes. There's also the dreamy "Broken Record," which features spacey guitars and Beatles-esque choruses. Then, to break any lull in the proceedings, the eerie and lyrically disturbing "Making Friends" -- which could easily find a home on the next Residents album -- rockets off in a completely new direction. A cool instrumental, the title track "Unicorn On The Kob" (yes, I know that the song title is spelled differently from the album title; that's not a mistake on my part) even makes an appearance. In any case, when all is said and done, how can you not like an album on which a voice suddenly and proudly proclaims "I don't want to sound like a queer or nothin', but I think unicorns are kick ass!"

Tracklisting:
Musical Findings (8:35) / Waiting for the Go (3:55) / Double Standard Booth (6:56) / Walk Fast (4:16) / Upping the Ante (5:26) / We Love You Lots (5:10) / Broken Record (4:47) / Unicorn on the Kob (7:09) / Making Friends (6:24) / Self Control (7:25)

Musicians:
Brian O'Neill - guitars
Jonn Buzby - keyboards, vocals
Jordan Perlson - drums
John Jens - bass and Chapman stick

Discography:
Unikorn On The Cob (2001)
Regaining The Feel (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin US

Added: June 5th 2001
Reviewer: Clayton Walnum

Artist website: www.landofchocolate.com
Hits: 2923
Language: english