Penaguin, Tom: Tom Penaguin

I have known of the French psych/doom band Djiin for a while but never paid attention to who was in the group. Well, apparently Mr. Tom Penaguin was the guitarist from 2015 until earlier this year, when he and the group announced he would be focusing on his solo career. He had put together a few albums on his own while with Djiin: the heavy, garage-rock Tales of a Floating Man under the pseudonym Captain Blind Chameleon, and the spacey and sometimes ambient Soundtrack for Places I’ve Never Been Vol. 1 under his own name. But last year he released this self-titled album, which he deems his first proper solo record. I’ve gone back and listened to his first two efforts, and I enjoy them, but I think the latest one is great.

The album gets off to a low-key start with “The Stove Viewpoint Introduction� but then hits you with some great Canterbury and fusion stylings on the near 15-minute “Housefly Leg.� Imagine something like Bundles-era Soft Machine combined with Zappa around the Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo period. It’s followed by the short “Aborted Long Piece No2,� which sounds like its title: One could imagine this being a longer track in the same style as the previous one. “Arrival of the Great Hedgehog� kicks off with some understated but inventive keys and then features Penaguin ripping on his guitar during the back half of the song. “The Stove Packed Up and Left� closes on a high note, with a pastoral feel you would sometimes get on classic Canterbury albums. The album is only about 37 minutes, but it gives you a lot in that relatively brief span. It’s worth noting that Penaguin apparently plays all the instruments in an “analog setting using a plethora of vintage studio hardware and equipment,� which no doubt contributes to the vintage feel of the album. Among contemporary bands, the closest comparison I can think of is Zopp (if you don’t need vocals with your music), which isn’t surprising because Zopp’s Ryan Stevenson helped Penaguin secure his label deal.

If I had heard this album last year, it would have made my Best of 2024 list. Better late than never, though. Penaguin will have another album out later this month called Beginnings. He says: “This is not a ‘brand new’ album; all the songs featured here were written and recorded between 2012 and 2020. The old ones were poorly recorded/mixed because I was still a teenager trying to learn how things work. There is no real planned continuity in here and everything was left as is, with just a bit of mastering to even things out.� I’m looking forward to it, but now that Penaguin has committed himself full-time to being a solo artist, I’m hoping we will see more “brand new� stuff from him, and quickly!

Track Listing
1. The Stove Viewpoint Introduction (2:44)
2. Housefly Leg (14:25)
3. Aborted Long Piece No2 (3:35)
4. Arrival of the Great Hedgehog (9:16)
5. The Stove Packed Up and Left (7:29)

Added: May 15th 2025
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 214
Language: english

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