Saturday, March 14, 2020

Review: Gomer Pyle – Before I Die I

When Gomer Pyle released Idiot Savants back in 2008, the Dutch rockers managed to mix Stoner Rock and Grunge with the Euro sounding Psych and create an album that is still used as a reference point because it is that good. For anyone new to this style of music, the track Drawback, from the album Idiot Savants, has to be on that mixtape
Move on to 2020 and they’re back with Before I Die I. A collection of nine songs which I quote are “A life’s musical snapshot by Gomer Pyle. This is no way meant to be more than “just” a collection of musical stories, evolved out of a combined span of life experiences of four friends who journey together on a vessel called “music”. Not a concept. But yes indeed LIFE, love, pain, poetry, friendship and deception”. Over the next 63 minutes you can really hear and feel what they have gone through and you won’t be disappointed
Remember The Days feels laid back, sun drenched and out there in a place that the band know all too well. Like driving the highway into the unknown, everything starts slowly and moves at a pace that has looking towards the horizon as the vocals drift in and out with that trippy feeling I would associate with the band. The bass line and drums take you there until everything kicks in and opens up those vocal melodies over warm fuzzy guitars. I’m only five minutes into the record and the love of what Gomer Pyle does has already comes flooding back. Any band that starts a record with a ten minute plus epic is alright by me, and this shines through as the song strums along and takes you on a journey that concludes with some kick ass guitar work that walks off into the sunshine.
The Buzzer has a more straightforward grunge rock feel to it that plays out like a story with the vocals and vocal harmonies playing a really strong part. As a song it stomp’s along a constant upbeat rate and is uniquely Gomer Pyle.
At nearly twelve minutes long, Slide Kings is an absolute magical journey. Starting slowly, quiet and space like, the warm psychedelic trip begins to take shape as Mark Brouwer’s vocals mesmerizingly pick you up as the journey continues. The guitar and bass sound rich and fuzzy with a slight edge that translates so well on record. With a real feeling of emotion in the lyrics about their loss and how they are sang and harmonized, you the listener, are taken up towards the clouds and beyond for several more minutes. As Slide Kings has its end in sight, the driving rhythm really moves and you cannot help but nod your head to riffs that define what I would call stoner rock. Played live, this will surely be one of those “hairs stand up on the back of your neck” moments.



The rock kicks in with Scum Trade and its more abrasive feel, switching between harsher vocals and rock melodies, making me think of Mastodon trading places with something that could be tagged as radio rock?
Nicky McGee has the swirl of two driving guitar lines that push against each other before joining forces and rockin’ out. As the chorus about Nicky McGee kicks in and tells you what they did, there’s a real sense of something like what a 90’s Melvins did in the world of Grunge, and the vocals are huge.
You can really feel the heart felt emotion in We Are One. The vocals sit strong as a real centerpiece over stripped back guitars and a lot more keyboard work with the repetition of the line We Are One taking you to some darker and slower lines that move to almost a chant like state.
Laeviculus floats along like a journey above the clouds and on towards the sunset. Warm, light and deeply emotive, before rocking out at the end with a huge solo.
Your Demon rocks like a bunch of musicians that grew up on DC hardcore that turned into a love of post hardcore. It jangles, it rocks, it harmonises, all with an emotion that buries deep into your musical mind.
Cyclus closes the record magically. The sadness, loss and grief of losing their colleague Bidi Van Drongelen has played a part in the writing of the album, but Cyclus is the track that closes the chapter in their lives in a way they must be so proud of. The piano starts the song and compliments the building up of the next 5 minutes, from the solitary voice to the uplifting positive feel of every single instrument and voice joining in harmony to its crescendo. 
Before I die I stands up against anything Gomer Pyle have written in the past. If they had reformed in a blaze of glory, I would have to quote the line “you would think the band have never left”. The more I listen the more I want to wax lyrical about the record and how good each track is and how they all interlink into a musical journey. Let’s hope they find their way to the shores of the UK to play live, sooner rather than later. Really well packaged by The Lab Records and Threechord Records.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Review: Hetouht – Kinetic EP


Hetouht have been around for some time now and over the last 12 months have dropped a couple of singles (Agavaceae and Ocean Sunset Man), longer EP’s (29.5 and A.Hoag) and various improvised jams and live performances on YouTube, that keep the listener on their toes as you never quite know what instrumental psych mind waves they are going to be jamming out next.
Like the last few releases, their 2 track Kinetic release just appeared the other morning and after only a couple of listens, I’m already hooked on what is probably their finest release yet.
Moving Grass strums in with a raw almost jangling guitar over some outer space electronic sounds that have me thinking of Kings of Frog Island. As it builds the guitar becomes thicker and fuzzier before walking off into the improvised minds of the band members. Throughout, it dives back and forth before the guitar work takes over and just as you think everything is about to take off, the sound of water brings you back to Earth. I think this when jammed live could last a lot longer.
Schoffer feels like more of a space rock epic with instruments bent to the far reaches of what they were built to do. The track builds like a journey off into the night sky heading towards the outer atmosphere, the percussion moving at an ever building pace with guitars soaring then fuzzing then taking you beyond the beyond. 
You forget that all of this is made by only 2 members who have a magical connection between them and improvise live what many a band would love to be able to do.
I really urge you to dig through their YouTube channel to discover a wide range of improvisations and jams that they have recorded in the studio as well as live. If you love instrumental stoner, desert, space and psych then this is for you. I can’t get enough of this at the moment and can see Hetouht spreading their kinetic waves much further in the near future.

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