Fabulous Diamonds' self-titled record was a sub-tropical stew of cheapo keyboards, delay pedals, and clumsy percussion. Vocalist/keyboardist Jarrod Zlatic and drummer/vocalist Nisa Venerosa set paranoid lyrics to nursery rhyme-style melodies and balanced lush psychedelia with black-hole drones. There were also, weirdly enough, some pretty good saxophone hooks. It was a prescient record, too-- the Aussies released it around the same time that Northern Hemisphere bands Blues Control, Raccoo-oo-oon, and Pocahaunted were starting to dabble with similar murky and zonked-out stoner vibes. On II Fabulous Diamonds take that sound and develop it in the most natural way possible-- they stretch it out.
The duo has always made good use of repetition, but here Fabulous Diamonds indulge their hypnotic impulses even further. II is bookended by tracks that stretch out past the 10-minute mark. "5", the album's final track, repeats a single organ figure for seven dizzying minutes while Venerosa pounds on heavily effected percussion. It's one part Lee Perry and one part Terry Riley-- a smart extension of the duo's original sound, no pun intended.
The bulk of II-- which was recorded by Eddy Current Suppression Ring guitarist Mikey Young-- finds the band favoring its lush and trippy tendencies rather than its dark side. "3" dusts pounding toms with waves of phased keyboard. "4" seats a queasy sing-along-- "No shame on show/ No shame on display"-- atop a start-stop electric piano hook. The songs at the center of the album hew to the repetitive routine, but clock in a little bit shorter. II isn't necessarily a step forward. Save for the two drawn-out jams, the duo sticks to proven territory. But given Fabulous Diamonds' head-spinning style, you can forgive them for wanting to sit still for a while.
