I have no recollection how Portugal’s Jesus The Snake came
to my attention as I had never heard their earlier material but I am stoked
that we have now crossed paths. My first thoughts that come to mind are the
laid back vibes of a hot sunny day somewhere out in the fields of Portugal and
that infamous Pink Floyd video in Pompeii.
They have a rich fuzzy sound that melts away to a classic
70’s sprawl backed up with a lot of keyboards and each track is around 10
minutes long which is just how I like it.
The first track Karma opens slowly and drifts in with each
instrument floating along together. The keyboards start and there’s a 70’s
proggy jazz feel to it as it builds and builds until it stops, then starts again
and begins to walk along giving you that feeling of looking out the car window
whilst driving out into the desert. Then the guitar kicks in with a really raw
fuzzy sound and duals with the keyboards for a few minutes for your aural
pleasure. Then everything drops off and the band show their ability to create
that sound that fits in with the near silence which I can imagine really holds
the audience when played live. Following that I’m treated to a build-up of fuzz
and keyboards that really takes you out there.
Floyds I starts with 4 minutes of rolling waves of 70’s prog
and makes me think of a certain Pink Floyd track (you can decide which one) with
some awesome guitar work. You can almost feel that warm sunshine setting at
dusk with every chord played. Then the bass and keyboards do their bit to build
the song up that has a jazzy feel to it but I can definitely feel some surf
rock in there as the guitar goes off again. At 6 minutes the driving fuzzy
guitars kick again and backed with the keyboards they really start to do their
thing. I also have to mention that the guitars manage a few times to do that
deep fuzzy “do do do do” sound ala Colour Haze (you must know what I mean).
Floyds II starts with a slow Sunday morning “kick back and
relax” vibe. The drums have a jazzy feel to them, the bassline really pulls
everything together, the keyboards in the background are always just there and
the guitar slowly walks away at its own pace. After this the song really
enhances how good the band are as musicians and manage to do their Pink Floyd
thing but with their own twist on it. As it draws to a close it gets heavier
and heavier showing that they’re not afraid to rock out.
Duna is a slow winding song that has a deep sound to it and
a slight jazzy feel as it drifts about (think those soaring videos over the
mountains, lakes and beaches) before an awesome riff drops in, then out, then
it’s back again. This time everything has a slightly darker feel to how the
song is composed, but you really do feel that deep fuzzy sound again. Now
unlike the other tracks, Duna gets more mellow as it goes on and the keyboard
work towards the end feels like lounge music from an American city in the mid
70’s, which fits perfectly with the vibe.
Black Acid, Pink Rain kicks straight in and the percussion
really drives the song with a much faster pace before the fuzzy end of the
guitar opens up with the keyboards before the guitar goes walking off sky high
again to counteract the pounding bassline. Then that deep silence thing happens
again and the band manage to create that up close and personal with the
instrument feel which illustrated how well this has been recorded in the
studio.
I know that I have talked about the guitars taking you out
there before dropping back in with the fuzz and how good the keyboards are, but
I have to mention how well the drums and bass just keep this thing going
throughout.
If you have bought the CD of Black Acid, Pink Rain then you
will have every song except Karma as the recording is too long for the CD but
the digital version has everything. I have read that a vinyl version is coming
in the future which is good as this recording deserves its place on record as
I’m sure the crackle of the needle will only add to the magic.
If you haven’t already checked this out, I cannot urge you
enough to buy it. It has that 70’s feel with a lot of Pink Floyd influences
mixed with the sleepy drifting feel of My Sleeping Karma and Sungrazer mixed
with the heavier fuzzy feel of a band like The Samsara Blues Experiment.
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