Rockfour
| Rockfour | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | רוקפור |
| Origin | Holon, Israel |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels |
Hed Arzi Earsay Records Rainbow Quartz Anova Music Cooking Vinyl |
| Associated acts | Shy Nobleman, Aviv Geffen, Anat Damon |
| Website | Rockfour.com |
| Members | Eli LuLai Baruch Ben Yitzhak Marc Lazare Issar Tennenbaum Yaki Gani |
| Past members | Amir Tzoref |
| Notable instruments | |
| Drum, bass, double bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, twelve string guitar, organ, wurlitzer, violin. | |
Rockfour (Hebrew: רוקפור) is a Psychedelic rock band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States.
Rockfour began writing and performing in Hebrew, and in 1991 released a single, "Haka'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 (The Man Who Saw It All). The music of the album was firmly rooted in 1960's psychedelic rock and the band used vintage instruments and recording equipment. To complement the "sixties" setting, six music videos were published for song from this album, all in a consistent, distinctive style: they combined vintage footage made with amateur-class cameras with footage of the band in the same style. Though not initially popular, over time this album gained the reputation of being one of the best albums in Hebrew-language rock, especially among younger critics. After several years it was certified as a gold record for selling over 20,000 copies.
After 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 style, 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 Siyum" ("Graduation Party"), which literally translates as "Finishing Party".
Supermarket, released in 2000, was Rockfour's first full-length album in English. It received some attention outside of Israel (for example, from Allmusic), 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. Their first release for the label was Another Beginning - a compilation of tracks from Supermarket and One Fantastic Day, which was followed by For Fans Only! - a collection of b-sides and live covers. During 2001 they produced and played on Shy Nobleman psychedelic pop debut album "How to Be Shy", which became a hit in Israel.
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