For those unaware, PUZZLEBOX is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Clint Bahr (former member of TriPod, Andromeda & Flash).

PUZZLEBOX is a rock band, a multidimensional “Tabula Rasa” in both compositional and improvisational formats.

PUZZLEBOX is a genre-defying global collaboration of artists, a cross-pollination of diverse instruments and talents.

Inextricably linked to the label, the 2003 self-titled debut of Clint Barr’s seminal NYC-based power trio, Tripod, was MoonJune Record’s fourth release. Harkening back to the same reaching beyond mentality which defined the work, Puzzlebox - bassist / vocalist / composer / multi-instrumentalist Barr’s long-awaited epic - is a fitting way to document this most special of occasions: seeing both artist and label going full circle, and in grandiose style!

Delightfully blurring both stylistic and structural approaches, the tight-knit unit Barr has assembled proves as unpredictable as they are adept, articulate and convicted. Described as a genre-defying global collaboration of artists; a cross-pollination of diverse instruments and talents, Puzzlebox recalls prog in its early heydays: when albums as uninhibited and offscript as King Crimson’s Lizard and Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica were celebrated, and the Canterbury renaissance was in full swing.

Brilliantly arranged and produced, Clint Barr has delivered a multi-faceted, timeless epic ... at such a time as this.

1. Tabula Rasa (02:27)
2. New Design (05:46)
3. Plate (07:51)
4. Shelter (03:59)
5. As Tympani Melt In The Greek Heat (10:47)
6. Fall From Grace (04:53)
7. Belt & Braces (01:13)
8. Triangles Circles And Squares (02:18)
9. Oslo (01:14)
10. Kicking The Wasps Nests (03:10)
11. Lifeguard In The Rain (03:38)
12. Tabula Rasa 2 (02:39)

Opening on the mystical Eastern soundscapes within Tabula Rasa and the harder edged rocker New Design, they are followed by the flirtatiously experimental, organic Plate, the drum-led prog rock of Shelter and then comes the ten minute percussional masterpiece As Tympani Melt In The Greek Heat and the euphorically soaring Fall From Grace.

Up next is the gently furtive, short but sweet Belt & Braces and the atmospherically-imbibed Triangles Circles And Squares, which are in turn backed by the stoically spoken words of Stephanie Feyne within Oslo, the Bowie-esque rocker Kicking The Wasps Nests, the album rounding out with the aptly-titled, mid-tempo balladry of Lifeguard In The Rain, coming to a close on the sonically-charged Tabula Rasa 2.

Official Purchase Link

Clint Bahr @ Facebook

Clint Bahr @ YouTube

TriPod The Band Website

Clint Bahr @ Bandcamp