The second volume of
Elephant9's
Psychedelic Backfire II was recorded live over the final two evenings at Oslo's Kampen Bistro. They were joined by frequent collaborator, guitarist
Reine Fiske (
Dungen,
the Amazing), co-billed on their studio albums
Atlantis (2012) and
Silver Mountain (2015). This sprawling double-length release is offered sans overdubs, edits, or corrections. Like its companion, the material performed is drawn from the band's studio catalog with and without the guitarist.
The set opens with a cover of
Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." The studio version appeared on
Silver Mountain, but this version is very different and longer by half. While the studio read opened with an abstracted, dissonant intro, this one, after some initial droning of guitar and organ, offers a hypnotic vamp suggestive of
Miles Davis' "Shh/Peaceful" from
In a Silent Way. Keyboardist
Ståle Storløkken uses an organ and a mellotron that evoke a classical flute, while
Fiske's economical finger-plucked strings rise above the gently pulsing, hypnotic vamp from
Nikolai Hængsle's bass and the shimmering hi-hat and pulsing snare of Torstein Lofthus. They persist with this groove even as
Storløkken introduces a languid take on the melody. The frontline players begin to stretch the melodic frame as the rhythm section ups the intensity and the tune veers off into a trippy, delicious jam.
Fiske's solo is snaky, labyrinthine, and spiky. His playing adds textural dimension, heft, and depth to the trio's dark drift. This is underscored by repeat performances of the medley "Skink"/"Fugl Fønix" and "Habanero Rocket." The former is more aggressive than the version on
PSI, melding prog rock à la
Soft Machine with the cavernous psychedelia of
Träd, Gräs och Stenar's (another band
Fiske plays in) and the
Grateful Dead's outer-dimensional jamming. The latter involves
Fiske as a third player in a bass and organ exchange that, in the opening minutes, actively engages melody to be fleshed out by the guitarist. His shard-like lyricism extends the reach of the rhythm section's pulsing vamp toward a conversation that eventually erupts into an overdriven collective force. The closer, "Freedom's Children"/"John Tinnick," melds a bluesy hard rock riff to funky interplay with
Fiske and
Storløkken going head to head as Lofthus breaks and fills with constant friction and
Hængsle pushes the funk into the red near the six-minute mark. Before it dissolves into complete chaos, a trio of power chords and rumbling, droning bass notes center it in dissolve; it's a complete reversal slipping seamlessly into spacy, languid improvisation. Some six minutes later, it's turned inside-out and shapeshifts into a heavy, prog-psych groover -- think
Deep Purple's "Space Truckin'."
Fiske's participation makes
PSII even more compelling than its fine companion album. It is arguably
Elephant9's finest live offering to date, and a guidepost to other bands showing how it's done. ~ Thom Jurek