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Tenk van Dool / Paul Sears — Aperiodic Grok
(Deko Entertainment, 2024, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-10-01

Aperiodic Grok Cover art

Tenk Van Dool is a southern California based multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer, and leader of the trio Temple of Switches, who created four albums between 2015 and 2022, though I’m not sure if they are still a going concern. Readers should know Paul Sears was the drummer of The Muffins since almost the beginning, although of late he has relocated from the east coast to sunny Arizona, and started a number of new endeavors. What we have here on Aperiodic Grok is something entirely new, unlike the vocal oriented rock of Temple of Switches, Van Dool has composed a full album of instrumental tunes, and pretty much played all the instruments himself with the exception of drums and percussion, which are capably handled by Sears. For his part, Van Dool plays all manner of guitars (acoustic, electric, nylon string, twelve string, fretless bass, mandolin) and keyboards (Hammond organ, piano, clavinet, solina, Mini-Moog, Mellotron) and even some saxophone. It’s an impressive effort that certainly sounds like a lot more players than just two guys in a studio overdubbing; the core sound – well, there is no core sound, the duo moves effortlessly all across the musical map, taking on elements of rock, jazz, blues, funk, acoustic sounds, odd angular proggy bits, a little bit of shredding – though never overdone, it’s a wonderful stew of musical ideas that seems to exist well outside of any predictable restrictions. A track like the busy “Berkeley Barn Dance” rocks hard and funky and takes no prisoners, with crazed synth lines and searing guitar leads, more or less enshrining the concept of getting as many ideas into a single song as possible, and it succeeds! A mandolin riff leads off the “The Royal Court and the Dirt Beneath,” but it certainly doesn’t stop there, rocking and wandering through numerous portals throughout its five minute duration. Beginning on a bluesy note, “Katie and Natalie” incorporates some melodic jazzy ideas that refine it uniquely among all the other tunes here, while “Köln” is like a conversation between pipe organ and Spanish guitar. The appropriately titled “Empty Hall and the Dancing Shadows” is at once explorative and heavy, bringing a lot of great jazz and rock ideas together under the same spotlight. Ten songs in all, Aperiodic Grok has plenty to offer listeners who want to move beyond the standard forms into something truly inventive.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Paul Sears, Tenk van Dool

More info
http://tenkvandool.bandcamp.com/album/aperiodic-grok-2

 

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