Food Pyramid’s debut LP is a hazy, dub-drenched world where anything can come at the listener at any time: chiming guitars, a maelstrom of synths, and even a sax pops in every now and then. Where earlier cassettes based themselves squarely in the Neu-school of Krautrock, Mango Sunrise aligns itself more with the anything goes, experimental aesthetic of Can and Kluster. This makes for an unpredictable and thrilling album of sun-drenched psychedelic rock.
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Food Pyramid comprises three members, C. Farstak, C. Hontona and M. Weather, who each stretch their musical palette across the sonic spectrum on the album’s nine tracks. The opening title track combines an electronic motorik rhythm with echo-laden guitars, piping synths, and a swirling, hazy background effect that acclimates the listener to the album’s tone. Following that is the dream-like “Who Careosel,” with ambient keys floating through a fog of effects, and a dubby bassline keeping everything together.
The centerpiece of Mango Sunrise, “Oh Mercy,” is a true gem. The track builds a bed of rhythm around a propulsive keyboard sequence, off-kilter drums, and fuzzed out guitars looming in the background. A set of punchy synths complements the vocals, which proclaim in a cool demeanor, “Aw baby…have mercy on me.” The band are at the top of their game on this track, with the remainder of the album dedicated to hazy, ambient excursions, save for the primal disco grooves of “I Know What I Saw.” The blueprint of this record is indebted to European krautrock and psychedelic music of the 70’s, though the songs are actually more forward-thinking than one would imagine. The principles of krautrock were to fuse music, art, and futurism’s forget the past, forge the future mentality. In that sense, the trio use their equipment as a painter would a brush, with each track a different canvas to throw their ideas at, and the results are spacey, tripped-out psych nuggets. This record is a step forward for the band, and like listening to the LP, whatever they have plotted as their next move is anyone’s guess.
For an album that seems to go all over the place, the band has an intuition for what works, being able to throw everything but the kitchen sink into their music. A lesser band would have faltered under the circumstances, but Food Pyramid’s musical camaraderie holds all the stray elements together, setting the bar exceptionally high for the Moon Glyph label, one that has already notched up a string of impressive releases.
