A million listens later, getting to see them in 2013 at
Desertfest and in London in 2014 was quite a treat and the talk of new material
kept coming up. It may have taken a few more years after that, but here it is,
Refractions, in all its Postwax release version glory.
Red River takes ten seconds before the drumstick hits the
snare drum and you are confronted with a huge wall of fuzz that comes at you
from both sides. The groove to it is apparent straight away with its huge
mid-paced “head nodding” riff that makes me remember why I loved the band so much
the first time around. Everything sounds pure Lowrider but with a killer
production and the vocals sound as unique as they ever did, and there’s even a
shredding guitar solo half way through!
It doesn’t take long for the guitars to start talking to you
in a darker way as Ode to Ganymede takes off. The drums begin to build with the
bassline and the guitar riff sounds almost haunting as it winds in and out with
the vocals before the big fuzz n roll riffs kick in to the mix. A single guitar
line then steps in to pull the song in a different direction before everything
slowly builds and makes you think of huge open roads surrounded by massive
mountains topped with a sea of slow moving wind turbines. Some 70’s Hammond
organ work crosses your path as the song keeps driving before handing off to
more big riffs and groovin’ guitar work. Wow!
Sernanders Krog starts with a lighter positive sound to it
and a cool bassline/drumbeat combined with vocals that sounds like a song I’m
sure Dave Grohl would love to have written. Everything moves along at a slower
pace which melts in to soaring guitar work the heads into the land of heavy psych
and takes you way up there above the sky and out beyond the atmosphere. I
cannot wait to see or hear a live version of this.
Ol’ Mule Pepe is a perfect example of the band doing massive Swedish stoner rock. It has a stomping riff for nearly 5 minutes, loads of big
drums and cymbals crashing, lots of “yeah” vocals, wah-wah guitars and killer
solos. I can see many a crowd going wild to this later on in the night, bodies
all over, drinks spilled, denim, hair…..you know what I mean!
I thought we may have some quiet time after that, but Sun
Devil /M87* strums in before another huge wall of sound completely floors you.
The guitars go big again and again, more wah-wah, crashing cymbals and the
super heavy riff machine just won’t let up. I know they’ve had 20 years to
collect a wealth of riffs and it shows here as they just keep coming.
The album ends on the 11 minute opus Pipe Rider that takes
you on a long epic journey in to the unknown. From the start everything is big,
bright and taking you off through the mountains and in to the dusk of the
desert. This time round it sounds more expansive with every instrument adding
to what turns in to a “jam” that starts to kick back more as the journey
continues on through the night. As the song concludes everything ramps up again
just to remind you that Lowrider have returned to reclaim their crown.
This is the album that many bands wanted to write. It really
is that special. The band have returned and taken that special thing they
always had and raised it to a whole new level. Yes, when listening to Lowrider I
still think of desert roads, 70’s cars and fields full of wind turbines, but
this record is so much more and it deserves all the plaudits it will probably
get over the next few months. Let’s hope that 2020 sees more live action again as well.
If you have the Postwax version you will know about the
extra special packaging, the liner notes, the playing cards, the killer
artwork, special vinyl and the bright orange flexi disk with a demo version of
Leaning Times from back in 2003. If you don’t then February 21st is
the day when it should be everywhere on Blues Funeral.
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