Perkunas
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Reviews
“Seven tracks that immediately put a smile on my face, from a stellar crew of musicians who have that rare gift of making ‘difficult’ sound spontaneous and fresh! There are delightful shades of Hatfield and the North, Thinking Plague, Magma and other icons of the genre, but Inner Ear Brigade creates its own compelling universe, full of unexpected twists and turns, bursts of ear-bending virtuosity, and at all times a deep, grounded self-assurance centered in the stunning vocal performances of Madeline Tasquin. Yes!”
— Fred Frith
"Inner Ear Brigade is creatively unfiltered: a mix of progressive rock, jazz and experimental pop delivered through intricately detailed compositions and arrangements. Led by guitarist and composer Bill Wolter, the Bay Area ensemble is avant-garde but accessible; the musicians twist and turn along unexpected musical corridors, demonstrating mixed meter rhythms, layered vocals, unusual instruments, skippy jazz piano, spirited brass and a thousand other sounds flowing through harmony and dissonance. Their third album, Perkunas, named for the Baltic god of thunder, is out this month."
— Sonya Bennett-Brandt, East Bay Express
“Bill Wolter's Inner Ear Brigade never disappoints, having delivered eclectic takes on avant-progressive and jazz-spiced rock from the fertile Bay Area, California scene for years. On Perkunas, they have upped the stakes to include ace zeuhl touches, like on opener "Ecobio Curves" fusing the modal grooves of early Magma seamlessly with more dissonant, angular figures a la Eskaton or Eider stellaire. "Sumimasen" refines that approach to allow for a textural clarity approaching "pop".
Madeline Tasquin's wonderful vocals act as a melodic instrument, gluing the band arrangement together in a way faithful to classic zeuhl, but also sounding something like Stereolab performing Glass-ian minimalism.”
— Dominique Leone
"Stylistically, Inner Ear Brigade is in a class of their own, with complex compositions reminiscent of other avant progressive bands like Thinking Plague, Cheer-Accident, and MoeTar, but also a tinge of jazz in the same way that Canterbury bands like National Health and Hatfield and the North did it. The result is thoroughly engaging, and a joy for fans of intelligent music that also connects emotionally. Perkunas is one of the standout releases of the year. Don’t let anyone tell you that music isn’t as good as it used to be."