ALBUM REVIEW: Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

    Caravan were another burgeoning progressive rock group out of the late 1960s, and another from the diverse and flavorful Canterbury scene where influence of Jazz reigned supreme above the music. Even with this in mind, Caravan are fairly more conventional than the noisy and unhinged stylings of Soft Machine. I would be lying if I said that I was hesitant to get into this one, because it looked like a generic progressive rock record that would fail to do much more than bore - well, luckily that was not the case. What we got is a pretty creative collection of tunes with plenty of varied ideas that keep the momentum moving. It may lack a little bit of energy at points, but overall In the Land of Grey and Pink is a pretty fun prog record.

    I want to open with a compliment that I typically don't give out to music - In the Land of the Grey and Pink is a pretty funny record. Typically I find it hard for music to be rather "funny," and progressive rock music especially, as usually prog groups a bit too self-righteous for that. Caravan is a rare exception - even on first listen, I noticed how silly a song like "Golf Girl" was, the story of a guy falling in love with a girl selling tea on a golf course. Something about both the lyricism and the dry vocal delivery from Richard Sinclair made it a supremely entertaining opener, and immediately left me excited to hear more of the record. This sort of off-kilter weirdness continues throughout, from moments like the bouncy "Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" with a happy delivery from Pye Hastings clashing with thoroughly bizarre lines like "I'd like to get deep down inside your pants," to the bizarre vocalizations at the end of "In the Land of Grey and Pink," Caravan prove to be just a tad bit eccentric, and yet these very eccentricities play into the records enjoyment - I can respect a group that doesn't take themselves overly seriously.

    It's also important to note that the group follows the Canterbury archetype - skillful instrumentation and a heavy focus on improvisational moments are the name of the game, and Caravan has them in droves. Their shining moment is the Side B tune "Nine Feet Underground," a sprawling 23-minute track that goes through eight different movements that brilliantly showcases the frantic and tight nature of Caravan. I always find that the backbone of some of these groups is the drumming - even when I didn't like Soft Machine, I noticed that Robert Wyatt was a good fucking drummer. Luckily for Caravan, they have Richard Coughlan, who's damn good at what he does, and can switch tempos and styles on a dime to allocate for whatever the others are feeling. David Sinclair's fuzzy organ adds plenty of texture to Pye Hastings' guitar licks, and Richard Sinclair is a smooth bass player whose riffs and patterns fill out everything remarkably well. The result is an undoubtedly tight group, and one that can flourish and bounce off each other remarkably well.

    In the Land of Grey and Pink is another impressive rock record out of the year that progressive rock really found its voice. In the ever-growing saturation of Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, and King Crimson, Caravan emerge with a distinct and clean sound, hefty improvisation, and probably more humor than any of the other groups, barring Tull. Apparently this is the group's third album, and while I'm not familiar with their earlier stuff, I'd certainly be curious to explore their older recordings in the future - clearly they have something. 

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to In the Land of Grey and Pink.