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Ping — Songs from the Nebula
(Apollon Records AP236, 2025, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-06-30

Songs from the Nebula Cover art

After a five-year gap, Ping is back with another set of off-kilter rock songs. Songs from the Nebula carries on from The Zigzag Manoeuvre with eleven slices of unpredictable music. While not much of it actually sounds like Frank Zappa, it’s apparent that the influence looms large in their minds, working from a willingness to warp various styles into a humorous sculpture of theatrical craziness. Scanning the list of titles, you’ll see “Space Time Companion,” “Bad Boy Pluto,” “Daze in Space,” “Jewish Space Laser,” and “Black Matter Lives,” so you know that serious thoughts aren’t to the fore. Like Zappa, Ping’s satirical and absurdist lyrics are accompanied by serious musicianship, with abrupt changes and complex arrangements, bouncy reggae here, thrashy punk there, twisted disco over there, off-beat loping Tom Waits acoustic coming around the bend. Bassist Jørgen Greiner’s vocals are one of the most prominent factors in the music, and he’s a singer who takes on different voices for the characters he portrays in the songs. He’s tuneful and gentle one moment and shouting or harsh the next depending on the situation. Mattis Janitz, Tore Hofstad, Mats Monstad, Bjørn Arne Johansen, and Roald Madland round out the band, and they’ve got a host of guests providing strings, woodwinds, and brass for a very full sound, though they’re not all playing on every track. So it’s time to strap in for a little journey to the nebula where interesting things are happening — don’t worry, you’ll be safe from the Jewish Space Lasers.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Ping

More info
http://ping123.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-the-nebula

 

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