Also known as	רוקפור
Origin	Holon, Israel
Genre(s)	Neo-psychedelic rock
Years active	1988 — present
Label(s)	Hed Arzi Earsay Records Rainbow Quartz Anova Music Cooking Vinyl
Associated acts	Eli LuLai, Shy Nobleman, Aviv Geffen, Anat Damon
Website	Rockfour.com
Members
Baruch Ben Yitzhak Marc Lazare Issar Tennenbaum Yaki Gani
Former members
Eli LuLai Amir Tzoref
Notable instrument(s)
Drum, bass, double bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, twelve string guitar, organ, wurlitzer, violin.

Rockfour (Hebrew: רוקפור) is a neo-psychedelic rock band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States.

History

Early Years

Rockfour began writing and performing in Hebrew, and in 1991 released a single, "Ha'ka'as" ("The Rage"), which did well on the Israeli rock charts. After undergoing several lineup and stylistic changes, they settled on what would remain a fairly stable musical identity in 1995 with their second studio album, Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol. Though not initially popular, over time it gained the reputation of being the best album in Hebrew-language rock, especially among younger critics.

In the late 1990s, the band began to write new material in English. During this period they recorded a studio album consisting of covers of classic Israeli rock songs by Shalom Hanoch and Arik Einstein, Behazara L'shablul. Ironically, though most of the songs were written during the psychedelic era, and Rockfour's covers were produced in their usual neo-psychedelic stlye, the original production on albums such as Shablul was fairly straightforward. In 1999 the band bid farewell to the Hebrew language with a live album (Behofa'a), in which they performed old and new material accompanied by a string section. The last track was a new studio recording titled "Mesibat Seyum" ("Graduation Party"), which literally translates as "Finishing Party".

The International Market

Supermarket, released in 2000, was Rockfour's first album in English. It received some attention outside of Israel (for example, from All Music Guide), which encouraged the band to record another album of new material, One Fantastic Day, and begin touring internationally in 2001. Eventually they were signed to American label Rainbow Quartz, through which they released two more compilations of English-language tracks, For Fans Only! and Another Beginning.

During the recording of Nationwide in Detroit, Michigan in 2004, tensions began to develop between lead singer Eli LuLai and the rest of the band. LuLai left the band in the middle of the subsequent world tour. The remaining trio shifted around vocal duties and returned to performing the night after LuLai's departure.

Without LuLai

Guitarist Baruch Ben Yitzhak took the role of lead singer for the recording of Rockfour's next album, Memories of the Never Happened. Keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Yaki Gani was also added to the band after participating in the recordings, making them a quartet once again. After a long production process, the album was released in Israel in May 2007, and internationally on October 9, 2007, with an accompanying tour of the United States.

During the recording of Memories of the Never Happened the band recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's debut single "Arnold Layne" and submitted it to a competition created by David Gilmour in honor of composer Syd Barrett's death. Gilmour picked Rockfour's version as the best cover of the song, and the band won a day of recording at London's Abbey Road Studios. As of October 2007, these recordings have yet to be released.

Style

Psychedelia

From Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol on, Rockfour have kept strictly to a neo-psychedelic style, writing and recording songs using techniques of such classic psychedelic rock groups as The Beatles, The Zombies, The Who, The Byrds, and early Pink Floyd. However, because Rockfour freely recombine their influences, and adopt a playing style significantly more aggressive than that of their influences (with the exception of the record-setting loudness of The Who), the resulting sound is modern and distinct. Among their psychedelic influences, the use of extended three-part harmonies and the unique sound of the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar stand out especially.

Other Genres

Rockfour sometimes employ the compositional style, though not the winding melodies, of progressive rock groups such as King Crimson and Genesis, most notably on the songs "She's Full of Fears" from Supermarket and "Old Village House" from Memories of the Never Happened. The mellotron, played in a style quite close to that of Robert Fripp of King Crimson, has also appeared on many of the band's studio recordings.

Starting with One Fantastic Day, they have incorporated the heavy, distorted guitar-sound of alternative rock, though it is absent once again from their releases after the departure of LuLai. Live performances of older material maintain this style.

Members

• Baruch Ben Yitzhak (Guitars, Vocals)
• Marc Lazare (Bass, Vocals)
• Issar Tennenbaum (Drums, Vocals)
• Yaki Gani (Keyboards, Guitars)

Past members

• Eli LuLai
• Amir Tzoref

Other significant contributors

• Danny Recht - production on Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol
• Noam Ledderman - drums on Behazara L'shablul
• Gadi Pugatsch - keyboards and vocals
• Noam Rapaport - mellotron and piano on Supermarket
• Jim Diamond - production on Nationwide

Discography

Studio albums

Hebrew

• Resheth Parparim (Butterfly Net) 1991
• Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol (The Man Who Saw Everything) 1995
• Behazara L'shablul (Shablul Revisited) 1996

English

• Supermarket 2000
• One Fantastic Day 2001
• Nationwide 2004
• Memories of the Never Happened 2007

Other releases

Hebrew

• Rockfour Behofa'a 1999 (Live)

English

• Another Beginning 2001 (Compilation of English-language tracks from Supermarket and One Fantastic Day)
• For Fans Only! 2003 (b-sides, covers and rarities)

External links

• Official site
• MySpace site
• Eli LuLai's MySpace site

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