Erroneously considered a Krautrock band by many music writers, Switzerland’s Krokodil are nevertheless most likely to be familiar to - if not championed by - fans of that particular sub-genre. Much of the confusion results from the band’s albums appearing on Liberty, United Artists and Bacillus, labels well-known for recording a large number of Teutonic groups during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
During that time, Switzerland had significantly fewer performing venues than neighboring West Germany, which resulted in Krokodil frequently gigging in that neighboring country. While the band featured pronounced psychedelic and progressive elements in their material, they further differentiated themselves from most Krautrock acts with a palpable blues influence in much of their work. Even though some of their more adventurous and extended performances might not sound incongruous on a playlist also including tracks by Ash Ra Tempel and maybe even Can, I don’t think anyone would classify the music of Krokodil as space rock, and certainly no one would confuse them with Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk.
With the group’s discography spread out over the three previously cited labels, a coordinated vinyl reissue program has proven to be problematic, most likely due to licensing issues. The original vinyl pressings are rare and consequently remain cost prohibitive to all but the most financially well-endowed collectors. All of Krokodil’s albums were rereleased as CDs during the 1990s - some in an official capacity, while others appeared as bootlegs. Several titles have been made available on LP again over the last five to ten years, but Swamp and Sweat and Swim have frustratingly not received the same treatment. While the vinyl reissues remain appreciated, they are not always easily obtainable to American fans such as this reviewer and typically command import-level prices. Oh, the burden of not liking contemporary popular music.
This situation has been greatly remedied by the recent release of The First Recordings, which has been lovingly assembled by the band’s drummer Düde Dürst. The eye-catching gatefold sleeve profusely illustrated with vintage photos not only houses a sturdy and well-mastered 180-gram LP but also a DVD containing the career-spanning documentary, Still a Part of Me. I was just about to describe this pairing of media as an outstanding combination of old and new technologies when it occurred to me that with the ascendancy of streaming, video encoded onto a physical product is now considered a somewhat old-fashioned playback format. Be that as it may, offering such bonuses with newly-pressed vinyl is a practice that should be emulated by more musicians and record labels if they want their material to stand out in a world where creative art is becoming increasingly digitized, soulless, and disposable. And no, I don’t consider little slips of paper with a download code for an MP3 version of the album to be much of a perk. So, the presentation of the LP and DVD more than passes muster, but how does the music and documentary stack up?
As one would surmise from the title of the record, its ten tracks are the fruits of Krokodil’s initial studio sessions. The earliest title, “Camel Is Top”, is essentially a musical commercial for the cigarette brand, but if only all jingles were this hard-rocking! Commissioned by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, the song enabled the band to purchase concert-grade amplifiers and was released as a single in the form of a cardboard picture disc in early 1969. Its driving arrangements and mind-bending Middle Eastern-style breaks makes it my favorite of all the tracks and almost tempts me to start smoking cigarettes again.
Shortly afterward, Krokodil reconvened in the same Zürich studio to tape additional material that passed through the hands of various music industry professionals and eventually earned the group a recording contract with Liberty. Several songs – including “Blue Flashing Circle,” “You’re Still a Part of Me,” “Hurra! Alive,” and “Don’t Make Promises” - would later appear as rerecorded versions on the band’s early singles and first two albums.
These previously unreleased takes are often just as good as their better-known counterparts and hint at greater things to come. The sleeve notes indicate that the tracks “I Was Cool,” “Hey Don’t You Care,” “When I Was a Child,” and the brief instrumental “Blue Krokodil” are also alternate versions that had remained unissued until now, but my research failed to reveal where the released renditions had appeared. “Gipsy Man,” on the other hand, was included as a bonus track on the 1999 CD reissue of Swamp. While none of these performances are bad, they illustrate that Krokodil was at their best when engaged in extended improvisatory works that allowed them to show off their musical chops as opposed to attempts at more conventional three-minute pop songs.
After you’re done spinning the LP a few times, make some popcorn, kick back, and watch the aforementioned Still a Part of Me DVD. While it might not rank as the greatest rockumentary ever made, this sixty-minute film is likely to remain the most authoritative history of the band that fans will ever have. Featuring all five original members, much of the more recent interviews and material presumably dates from approximately ten years ago, not long before the passing of harmonicist Mojo Weideli in 2006. Of possibly greater interest, Still a Part of Me also includes some outstanding footage from Krokodil’s long-haired early 1970s heyday that will leave you wanting even more. (Well, there’s always YouTube for that.) The documentary is almost completely in German but includes an option for English subtitles that read mostly in a coherent manner. While the disc is described as “All Regions,” viewers attempting to watch the movie on a non-PAL DVD player might encounter some difficulties with playback. This is easily remedied by watching it on a computer instead.
Tracklist:
A1. Blue Flashing CircleA2. You're Still A Part Of Me
A3. Gipsy Man
A4. I Was Cool
B1. Hurra! Alive
B2. Hey Don't You Care
B3. When I Was A Child
B4. Don't Make Promises
B5. Camel Is Top
B6. Blue Krokodil