The Bluesbunny - Independent Music Reviews

Dig out your once trendy Peruvian mountain hat - you know the one with
the ear flaps and the big bobble on top - and join me for the psychedelic
acoustic ride that is 12 Harmonic Chaos. You might also need to find that old
bong that you convinced your mum was a vase while you're at it!

Although 12 Harmonic Chaos claim influences of grunge and progressive house, to this Bluesbunny's ears (and lets face it they're long ones), it sounds as if guitarist Ryan Scherer has been locked in a room with nothing but Dave Allen and Steve Hillage albums, with Tubular Bells piped in as a treat on Sundays. Even though he hails from Washington USA, our Mr Scherer seems, with his acoustic doodlings, to have captured a typical seventies' English summer.

I found the highlight of the album (it is a free download, by the way) to be the title track "DE-173". A dark sequenced piece that is somewhat out of place in the context of the rest of the tracks on offer, this track could be a System7/NIN hybrid and shows a focus and structure otherwise lacking in this album.

Inoffensively pointless, although the guitar playing can be a bit heavy handed in places; this CD does have some nice ideas. Overall, however, the tunes are rambling and unfocused with themes which are never really developed. This is a shame as, with a modicum of direction, the music could be built into a satisfying New Age ambient CD.