Kraut sounds may or may not have gained footing amongst the rock intelligentsia over the last decade or so, but even if it hadn’t I would guess that Blues Control would be plying roughly the same territory that the duo’s in now. There’s not a straight cop from any one specific place – it’s all a mix up of cheapo electronics, a mess of keyboards, drums that don’t drop the beat and enough background atmospherics to disallow any Blues Control track from having empty space at all. None of their works are masterpieces, but I’d assume that they’d not want it that way. Instead each track from the group over the series of self released tapes, singles and two proper full lengths is a quick portrait of two people - Russ Waterhouse and Lea Cho – kicking out the downer jams for whoever wants to sit in the basement and listen to this schlock.

Oddly genuine and void of pretense, the uncomplicated approach to music that Blues Control confronts detaches the duo from other more proggy and technically studious acts mining the sounds of the ‘70s. So, it’s not a surprise that each of the four tracks that make up Local Flavor clock in beyond pop-song length. There’s not a mound of primping or self congratulatory wanking, but there is a healthful dose of drone even if that isn’t the main tenet of the group’s sound.

Coming roughly two years after the group’s self titled disc on Holy Mountain, Local Flavor comes off as an apt continuation of not just that previous album, but also the Riverboat Styx tape from a while back. Immediately getting into a Neu! style quick step jam, the group on “Good Morning” relies heavily on an acoustic (sounding) piano as quips from a distorted guitar and trumpet contributed by Kurt Vile traverse the tracks mid section.

The two tracks that follow don’t come off nearly as aggressive and work more towards the hazy ambience that Blues Control finds so easily. At times both “Rest on Water” and “Tangier” seem to have been effortlessly assembled as that robotic drum beat keeps the wavering lines of keys and echoed ephemera from losing itself in space and time. You can’t whistle most of this, but there’s a groove that the band is able to reach which eludes so many other acts that attempt to work with similar influences.

But as the disc comes to a close with the appropriately named “On Through the Night,” Blues Control embraces its more minimalistic nature. While the previous tracks might be referred to as anything but musically dense, this final track finds the duo working with space ship ambience for large portions of the almost seventeen minute track. At times recalling some ambient Pink Floyd trip, the song eventually moves into a jungle thud of drums and various warbling production noises. Connecting Blues Control’s prevalent kraut sounds with some of the ‘70s more outrageous synth experiments yields an acceptable end to an album whose highs were reached during the first few offerings.