Out of Line

Kuckuck was responsible for releasing many great albums in Germany in the early 1970s, including those by the wonderful Out Of Focus. Featuring Moran Neumuller (vocals, sax, flute), Remigus Dreschler (guitar), Hennes Hering (keyboards), Stephan Wisheu (bass) and Klaus Spori (drums), this legendary Munich based band were contemporaries of acts such as Amon Duul II and recorded three classic and highly collectable albums for the label. Their music is somewhat similar to early British prog but will gradually evolve to a certain jazz-rock while staying very politically and socially conscious (in the typical German style of those years).

The sprawling double LP Four Letter Monday Afternoon is generally considered the best effort from these jazzy Krautrockers. Rats Road, issued 30 years later, consists of recordings from those same sessions that had to be left off the original release because of lack of space, with material nearly as strong. Like Four Letter, this finds Out of Focus expanded to an 11-piece and stretching out on long jams with loose, funky rhythms and lots of lengthy instrumentals on various brass, keyboards, and guitar. In fact, this record is even more instrumental, with only two tracks with vocals, the energetic "I'd Like to Be Free" and "Tell Me What I'm Thinking Of," the latter which also appeared as a bonus track titled "When I'm Sleeping" on the CD reissue of Four Letter Monday Afternoon…