Vintage Caravan

Virtuosic ‘70s rock guitar ruminations encounter an irrefutable mixture of astonishing modern elements and classic psychedelic / progressive rock trademarks: Icelandic frontrunners THE VINTAGE CARAVAN return with their fifth studio album, Monuments, out April 16, 2021 via Napalm Records.

The Vintage Caravan are a mystery. »Arrival«, the third full-length from this Icelandic trio implies a maturity worthy of any band that has been on the road for some decades and enjoyed their share of smoked-filled seedy backstage rooms reeking of stale beer. A relaxed rocker like ‘Winter Queen’, with its perfectly-timed build-up and meticulous solos speaks of a long-experienced songwriter worth his salt. The blues-soaked ‘Monolith’ is as cleverly assembled as the percussion-driven heavyweight ‘Last Day Of Light’ or the shapeshifting semi-ballad, half-groove monster ‘Eclipsed’, or the whirling psychedelic trip offered by ‘Babylon’. The hand of a masterful composer can clearly be seen at work in each and every of the diverse songs featured on »Arrival« combined with a rare musicality on the instrumental and vocal side that can easily match those rock giants of the 70's. Yet that hand belongs to a kid or rather kids barely out of their teens.

2006: A year that should change a lot in the life of three Icelandic schoolboys. The year that gave birth to a future classic rock trio named THE VINTAGE CARAVAN. Their self-released debut album »The Vintage Caravan« (2011), and especially their sophomore record »Voyage« (2012; re-released in early 2014) caused an earthquake in the heavy music scene, and brought them a new record deal with Nuclear Blast in 2013. Also their reputation as a powerful live band soon got around and gave them numerous possibilities to open up for acts such as BLUES PILLS and GRAND MAGUS.

2-on-1 set that brings the albums All Over You and All Over You… Too together in one package.
All Over You (1996). Whenever "classic rock" bands choose to re-record new versions of their old hits, the results are infamously less than favorable. Indeed, Caravan purists and other such enthusiasts may find it necessary to re-evaluate All Over You - as well as its companion release All Over You…Too - within their own standards. This single disc features a few acoustic-based reworkings, as well as some otherwise overhauled renditions of some of Caravan's most enduring standards. The remastered version - issued in 2000 on the Castle label - also contains two additional recordings. The tracks on this release basically fall into two categories. The first consists of new performances featuring the original arrangements…

By all outward appearances, The Best of Caravan Live seems to fit the description and packaging of a budget release. Indeed, this is what all but the most inquisitive enthusiasts must surely have thought when passing up the French two-LP set in 1980. In actuality, the music contained within these grooves is a performance by Caravan from the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, September 1, 1974. The band used this gig to prepare for their inaugural North American tour. Additionally, the performance was documented in hopes of using the best bits as a promotional tool for their upcoming shows. However, the tapes remained dormant for nearly two years. Then in 1976, the epic "For Richard" was judiciously extracted and subsequently included as an unreleased bonus on the double LP Canterbury Tales retrospective…

Throughout their career, Caravan Palace has consistently defied musical conventions and genres, forging their unclassifiable, hybrid pop signature sound. Embraced by multiple communities (dancers, gymnasts, gamers, video animators…) who turned their songs into viral hits, the group has achieved enormous success, accumulating several billion streams across all platforms as well as an RIAA Platinum Certified Single with "Lone Digger". Their idiosyncratic soundscapes achieve the rare feat of being both leftfield and commercial. Gangbusters Melody Club, their fifth album is a joyous jigsaw puzzle of an album and their most dancefloor-friendly to date.