Coquelito Asleep in the Poppies
This Athens collective has built its career on high concepts and low budgets, emerging with a string of indie-pop operas. However,Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verseoutstrips even the band's own ambitions. A year and a half in the making,Coquelicotfeatures 22 pieces ranging from loopy spoken-word snippets to literally Beatles-esque baroque pop, and it concludes with an 18-minute piano epic ("The Hopeless Opus"). This is the sound of theBonzo Dog Bandstrolling woozily through strawberry fields, spinning tall tales and greeting passersby all the way. That they succeed without embarrassing themselves or their listeners is a testament to their sheer talent. There's a vague, loose concept at work here, but don't worry too much about following it: the band members themselves admit that they weren't going for a straight narrative. You'll want to letCoquelicotunfold in its own roundabout way and follow its oddly affecting musical path. The deluxe packaging includes two inserts and plenty of curious psychedelic artwork.--Mike Appelstein