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Reviews

Alan Jenkins — E.H. Gorilla Ltd. Atomic Engineering and Mobile Library
(Cordelia Records no#, 2025, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-11-10

E.H. Gorilla Ltd. Atomic Engineering and Mobile Library Cover art

With a title like E.H. Gorilla Ltd. Atomic Engineering and Mobile Library, you might expect Alan Jenkins’ latest album to be psychedelic, or silly, or some combination of the two. There is certainly an air of psychedelia about the music, but silliness isn’t really on the menu. There’s a serious amount of craft that went into creating these fourteen tracks, and the whimsy generally shows in the lyrics rather than the instrumental parts. Jenkins works within the context of twangy guitar rock here, with accents from keyboards at times, but there’s a lot of variety in his songs, which feature interesting chord progressions that venture outside normal expectations. There are aspects of 60s garage rock blended with Ummagumma-like experimentalism, Robyn Hitchcock-like trippiness (including the oddly frequent mention of animals in the lyrics), and the occasional use of a horn section and latin percussion. With the proliferation of psychedelic rock coming out these days, Jenkins produces music that is steadfastly eccentric in a very natural way that doesn’t seem put on at all. This isn’t a fashion statement or hopping onto a trend, it’s the way his mind works. And while his prolific output may be a bit daunting, E.H. Gorilla Ltd. makes for a good entry point.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Alan Jenkins

More info
http://alanjenkins.bandcamp.com/album/e-h-gorilla-ltd-atomic-engineering-and-mobile-library

 

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