Half Past Four - 2008 - Rabbit in the Vestibule

(63:00; Half Past Four)






















Earlier this year I reviewed the excellent new album by Canadian band Half Past Four, bemoaning the fact that so few people seem to know anything about them, and also that I had only ever reviewed their mini album from 2016 and not the first two, which is why I am now playing their debut, 2008’s ‘Rabbit In The Vestibule’. Even before playing it I was intrigued as even though it has been 17 years since it came out, three of the band, Kyree Vibrant (vocals), Igor Kurtzman (keyboards, sounds, effects) and Dmitry Lesov (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals) are still there with the others in this line-up being Constantin Necrasov (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Art Pisanski (drums, percussion) plus a few guests.

I described their latest release as a beautiful mess, and in many ways, this is just the same with influences being taken from artists as diverse as Zappa, Todd Rundgren, King Crimson, Cardiacs, Poisoned Electrick Head, Kate Bush, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Toyah and others. It is rooted in British eclectic Seventies progressive rock with a few American influences here and there, but the joy of this release is that no-one is really sure where it is going to lead as the musical threads are wonderfully diverse with lots of space between them and somehow all coming together even if on paper they should not. Drummers often have “percussion” put against them even if that only means cymbals, but here Pisanski is using far more than just a drum kit, and bringing in plenty of World influences into what he is doing which can sound quite strange when underneath keyboards which are leading the way, which are playing something very different to the guitar while the bass is on another planet and then over the top are the great vocals of Vibrant and somehow it all makes sense.

Half Past Four are a band who use contrast, dynamics and space as additional instruments, and the result is something dramatic and different, and I have no idea why they are not more well known and talked about as their take on prog is simply delicious.    

Kev Rowland, October 2025

Links:
https://halfpastfour.com/

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