Rock Four reviewed
Rock Four
Memories Of The Never Happened
(Cooking Vinyl)
When you read mention of Israel’s Rock Four, the word “Beatles” is invariably invoked. Their influences are slightly more modern (and blustery — in a good way) than that.
As Memories Of The Never Happened opens with controlled feedback screams, the first reaction is “Bands don’t do this anymore.” But they did in the late ’80s and early ’90s, or about when The Stone Roses crawled the Earth. Rock Four’s shimmering, psychedelic pop stems from those proto-Britpop bands, augmented with a squalling wah pedal, trippy echoes, and mellotron, all before the second track, “Half & Half,” is barely 90 second old. Chaotic, atonal 12-string guitar runs conjure “Eight Miles High” just as effortlessly as “Old Village House” drags pastoral Kinks-isms through a haunted mansion. There’s no mistaking the album is all about sounds — check the wavering synths of “Lady Jette” — which ties off some of its impact, and like any trip Memories begins to overstay its welcome. But for 35 minutes, you might wonder where your baggy jeans went.
— Steve Forstneger
