This album was originally released as a private press of just 50 copies in Chicago in 1981 and has apparently become reasonably sought after in the near 40 years since, so that for lovers of super obscure Progressive rock the news that Jackpot Records are giving the album a full Vinyl re-issue with Posters and a full band history will be good news to anyone whose always wanted a copy.
The album opens with In The Calm Of Your Eye a super slow and mellow song that sounds nothing like 1981 but more like 1969-71 to me, It has none of the early 80's preoccupations with synth's or New wave jauntiness in fact sounding like it has more in common with The Incredible String Band until halfway through it kicks up a gear and starts to sound like proto-prog rock with the sort of guitar part that will draw many guitar maven fans in.
Evidently Me sounds in part at least like the sort of thing you could spend ages wondering which Pink Floyd jams they have taken parts from musically, even if the vocals really do remind me of Mike Heron. When the shift of pace happens about two thirds of the way in it suddenly becomes more like a Band Of Gypsies jam or like someone had been playing Woke Up One Morning Found Myself dead on repeat and then tried to have a go at the solo.
Islands starts with a long jam section that reminds me of Angelwitch before eventually subsiding just before the vocals come in like a calm oasis in the middle section before it starts building to some sort of conclusion or wild freak out.
Dissonant Toys sounds like it wants to be a hard rock belter but they simply couldn't get enough of a pace going so it plods a bit and while they might want it to sound like Black Sabbath it doesn't quite cut it. But it does get decently exploratory even if like much of this album it sounds like the stuff I would have been screaming at you to turn off in the 80's for sounding like crap, this far down the line I'm far more amenable to it.
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The Maze again has them trying to sound like Hendrix only with some odd extra elements and without Jimi's extraordinary talent and for me the standout part of this tune are the little bits of acoustic guitar.
Medicine Man may as well be channeling Medicine Hat as I'm sure even in 1981 this sounded like old hat even if a few years later if you'd just amped it up a bit more and made it a bit quicker and it could be a thrash metal tune, but not the Pantera song of the same name, well apart from the vocals as they are solidly in the Mike Heron or similar vein, that and it might actually be a cover of the Barclay James Harvest tune.
Good Mourning yes that's mourning and not morning is as downbeat as the title suggests and is slow ponderous tribute to someone who's gone too soon.
The bonus song you get with the download card in the vinyl is a cover of King Crimsons Larks Tongue in Aspic Part II I am no judge of how good or bad a cover it is as I have hated King Crimson since the early 80's and really would just advise skipping this rough and ready demo unless you are a King Crimson obsessive.
Find out more at https://jackpotrecords.com/shop/seiche-demo-press
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