"E Shra (Stangade)" opens the album in an ambient swirl with partial guitar arpeggios floating through the mix. This dreamy mood persists for the first two minutes before the rhythm section joins in. Steady drumming and bass playing anchors the disjointed wall of guitars engulfing the piece into some semblance of structure. "Acid Head (Le Kalif)" has a much clearer design than the previous song, but starts off with the same windswept ambience. It is intended to give the music a more cosmic effect and, indeed, succeeds on that count - the first two songs never play so much as they emerge, as if an assembly of pulse escaping from a celestial body. The singing is quite competent, but the muddy articulation practically renders the lyrics a moot point. The riff, refreshingly simple and memorable, never wears thin.
Another strong riff opens "Evil (Le Kalif)". The band, once again, lays a healthy dose of windswept ambient effects over the song, but the riff's electrifying energy leaves it sounding more like an affectation than a significant contribution to the song. It is the album's first unadulterated stab at punk rock and any attempt to cloak it with trippy, psychedelic trappings is doomed to failure. We return to familiar ground for "X Ray (Le Kalif)" and its loping, hallucinatory groove. The ambient keyboard swirls drop in and out of the mix rather than maintain a constant presence through, but the heart of this tune is the relaxed drumming that never rushes a tune clearly designed for an extended take. "I'm Comin' Home (Le Kalif)" might, initially, give hope to the novice listener that they're in for lighter than usual fare, but the primitive shuffle and gritty, skeletal rhythms form the backbone for one of the album's most impressive songs. The highlight comes with a blistering guitar solo near the song's halfway point.
"Sweet Jesus (Le Kalif)" is another oncoming tank of a tune with primal drumming and a relentless, simple riff thrashing over the top. It breaks down a little after four minutes into a slightly amorphous quasi-bridge crackling with fractured, fiery lead guitar. The tempo builds to a crescendo before the song races to its final jarring conclusion. The exotic opening to "G Shra (Le Kalif)" catches the listener's attention, but more impressive is how the band maintains such a strong, continuous pulse. The instrumental recalls the opener with a number of the passages sounding like variations on a theme.
The Stangade performance of "Evil" is more pure rock and roll rave up than psychedelic excursion. The energetic, uncoordinated dual vocals and flailing guitar chords make this an irrepressible romp. Likewise, the Stangade version of "X-Ray" takes a much cleaner, direct line of attack than its counterpart. It's always a marker of greatness to me when a band can take strong material and give distinctive, but different, performances each outing. It doesn't just prove the elasticity of the material, but willingness to risk in the performer. The album's final number, "Sweet Jesus", suggests that the Stangade show must have been an inspired evening. It takes the approach "Evil" did by clinging tighty to what constitutes great rock and roll. Without a doubt, White Manna subscribe to the theory that stripped down, muscular, and gets to the point. However, like before, the band does find opportunity to wander and jam some during an extended bridge.
If White Manna lacks finesse, who cares? This is a band that intuitively understands many will never get the music, but writes and pursues this genre despite grim financial realities. They are looking to engage the listener rather than losing them in their latest reverie and Live Frequencies shows a band in full command of their connection with their audience and music.
Words: J. Hillenburg
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