Bent Knee "Land Animal"

Welcome back once again fellow progheads!  And for those of you entering the Closet Concert Arena for the first time, thanks for stopping in!  The "2017 Album Review Tour" continues on as the search for all things prog checks in with a band  occupying acreage in the prog garden few artists have entered.  Bent Knee has recently released their new album "Land Animal" and I have had the pleasure of listening to it these past 168 hours.

Bent Knee has graced the Closet Concert Arena more than once; since unearthing this band I have been listening intently and falling deeper into their sound.  Much the way King Crimson blazed a trail with their debut release--and remain peerless to this day--so too Bent Knee has been forging their own way.  Moving in and out of sub-genres of the prog garden, this is a band you really need to digest fully...each song is an adult dose.  Open that inner door and let a new experience burst through like waves crashing over a catamaran on the open sea...

The albums begins "innocently" enough with a tune called "Terror Bird."  Opening with an almost tribal-like drum beat, Courtney Swain's delicate yet intense vocals float over the top, creating a mood that feels much like Shakespeare's Tempest...and when it hits you--squarely in the forehead--you saw it coming and gladly took the blows.  Bent Knee picked up where they left off; already I feel as though this may be the freshest new sound of 2017.

Next serving from this exotic feast has a jazzy, almost retro feel to it, "Belly Side Up."  This is the type of song that sounds like an oldie the first time you hear it; you get a sense of nostalgia but at the same time you feel as though you have passed through a time warp into some kind of futuristic sound enclave...nothing is recognizable yet everything is familiar.  Bent Knee took a page from Warren Zevon; the music is rampant with dazzling colors and fills the canvas with broad strokes of brightness, while the lyrics, a la "Excitable Boy," are ominous and run skew to the tempo and mood.

Bent Knee wanders the prog garden like Kaa roamed Kipling's jungle...with stealth-like agility always ready to pounce on the unsuspecting.  This album comes at you from so many different angles offering so many different views of the prog garden...and every time you come back for a fresh listen something marvelous and energetic graces your auditory canals.

Liner Notes...Bent Knee is Courtney Swain, Ben Levin, Chris Baum, Jessica Kion, Gavin
Wallace-Ailsworth, and Vince Welch.  The hats they wear are listed in my previous reviews of the band; tonight the focus is simply the music.  Bent Knee originated in Boston, MA when Ben and Vince met in 2005 before attending Berklee.  The rest, as the saying goes, is prog magic.

The band has been busy of late; touring in support of and and celebrating the release of "Land Animal" while keeping everyone updated via Instagram and Twitter.  Bent Knee is rising in the prog world, yet remain well-grounded in the prog garden.  Staying connected with their fans and playing venues that allow them to be as immersed in the crowd as the crowd is in their performance.  Bent Knee isn't a throwback--but they do recall for me a time when prog music was raw, energetic, tangible, and thought-provoking.  This is the music you always knew was buried among the racks in your favorite music store.

One more song to cue up for review; "Insides In."  The cut opens like a dark fairy tale...you sense something hidden from view and are determined to find it.  The subtle drumming and delicate guitar work belie deep lyrics that slice through your thought process like a scythe clearing a wheat field.  Did I mention the storm clouds?  Leading the listener on a dark cavernous journey you never saw coming, intense piano accompanies ominous violin and a resounding drum echoing like painted memories that fade but never fall away...

Purchase "Land Animal" and the rest of the Bent Knee catalog at Bent Knee Music; tour dates and other information can be found there as well.  You will even find their music and merchandise at
Bent Knee Bandcamp, Bent Knee iTunes and Bent Knee Googleplay.  You can follow the band on Facebook at Bent Knee FB, Instagram Bent Knee Instagram, and Twitter @bentkneemusic.  Build your collection and make that purchase!  This is music to be savored and appreciated...

This week I go against my own preaching and offer a clip from the new album below.  This piece is called "Holy Ghost" and gives a bit of a glimpse behind the veil that envelopes a band dripping with creativity, vision, and daring...step through and hold on...

That was a bold adventure and I hope you enjoyed it fellow progheads.  Bent Knee is steadily gaining attention and notoriety in the prog garden and everywhere they perform.  Finally a band that accepts the challenge and walks the walk; making every album a new adventure and every song etched into the vinyl an entity unto itself.  Bent Knee is prog music listened to and viewed through an entirely different prism...you need to catch a glimpse for yourself and relish the moment...

...and once again the search for all things prog moves forward.  Meandering through the garden has led to some amazing discoveries, and Bent Knee has been a favorite since I first discovered them last spring.  Allow yourself to be swallowed up by the music, swept away by the sound, and engulfed in endless possibilities...until next time...