Review Summary: As many colors in the cover art as instruments in the album.
Some albums feel like they prefer to tell their story from the end going backwards. The lavish debut of German prog-rock squad Rubber Tea is one of those albums. After two years, the young quintet from Bremen seem to have completed their musical journey, wrapped up here as
Infusion, and it’s as magically entrancing as the cover art courtesy of David Erzmann suggests. Erzmann, who jumps from fretless bass to a sitar with the same ease than a frog jumps from one water lily to the other, is also one of the 5 core members of Rubber Tea. Together, they can probably manage more instruments than a philharmonic orchestra, and there is not a minute in
Infusion that goes by without showcasing every member’s strength with their tool of choice.
How that musical dexterity translates into their songs is another matter.
Infusion is a raucous trip of jazzy soundscapes and progressive rock shenanigans fronted by the extraordinary voice of Vanessa Gross, who shines in tracks like sumptuous opener “On Misty Mountains/Downstream” and the noir semi-ballad “Plastic Scream”. Channeling early Genesis, Camel and, needless to say, Pink Floyd, the German collective sounds like they belong to a long-gone decade, the 70s indeed, exhumed through the seven tracks that comprise
Infusion with tangible love and rigorous attention to detail.
As far as highs and lows go, “Storm Glass” shows the band’s most aggressive and interesting side, reigned by a rather unsettling vocoder as Vanessa’s vocals join in harmony, creating an arresting contrast. Closer “American Dream” snaps you out of the utopian dream that is
Infusion with a sample of US president Donald Trump’s spiteful rhetoric, which is arguably unnecessary since it doesn’t really add to the general feel of the band’s debut.
As a whole, Rubber Tea’s first full length is a multicolored canvas of sounds that range from mellotrons and vibraphones, to eccentric sax solos and general Moog lunacy, where serenity rules over chaos for the most part with calculated and carefully polished musicianship. It will be interesting to see where Rubber Tea heads in future releases though. Further incursions into krautrock and free jazz territory would be thrilling, speaking from a selfish perspective. It would be a treat to see them breaking through the pristine precision of
Infusion to create a wilder flame. As the band’s debut shows, they clearly have the chops for it, but as a presentation card, it doesn’t get much better than this.
