Big Scenic Nowhere released their full length Vision Beyond
Horizon only months after their debut EP Dying on The Mountain, and less than a
year after that they return with a new EP Lavender Blues. With the band being
more of a project between members of other bands, you would think that getting
everyone together and writing would only happen a couple of times a year, but
even if it is, Big Scenic Nowhere have a magic sixth sense between them and
just turn on the tape over a long weekend, and a wealth of creativity and
musicianship just spills out every time.
Towards the end of 2019 the four continuing members: Bob
Balch (Fu Manchu), Gary Arce (Yawning Man), Tony Reed (Mos Generator) and Bill
Stinson (Yawning Man) were joined this time with: Per Wiberg (Kamchatka,
Opeth), Daniel Mongrain (Voivod) and the legend that is Chris Goss (Masters of
Reality), and have managed to put down on tape 3 songs that have the
distinctive Big Scenic Nowhere sound, but this time
The whole of side A contains the 13+ minute title track Lavender
Blues, which starts like a slow meander into some place warm and distant. There
is a real feeling that Lavender Blues has been jammed out and evolved into
something so unique right in front of the players with the warm psychedelic
feel it gives out, their inner-prog just blossoms.
As the first real synthesizer solo kicks and lifts you up to
the next level, I am getting that feeling like I’m being pulled away into one
of those vast Roger Dean paintings, with all its organic world within another
world complexities. It’s like taking desert musicians out of the warm dusty sun
soaked open sprawl of the low desert and putting them into a world of blue and
green with long winding rivers and upside down trees.
As a song, Lavender Blues has that much through the 13+ minutes,
every time I listen to it, I hear something different.
Like a complete contrast to side A, Blink of an Eye is your
favorite soundtrack from a 70’s movie that you used to dig in your teenage
years. The opening chords have the feeling of closing a door for the final time
and heading off to pastures new. With a mid-paced hook that is extremely
catchy, there a positive vibe to it, as though you’re nodding at that person
you recognise as your walking off into the evening sunshine.
I wouldn’t say it has the radio rock feel, but it’s a close
as Big Scenic Nowhere have come to giving you an upbeat catchy track that will
be stuck in your head all day. It is though, the kind of song that Tony’s voice
is made for, be it the rich vocal strength he has or the ability to fit
perfectly in harmonies.
As Blink of an Eye concludes, the guitars start to pick up
and drift towards a place that they can soar into those huge open spaces,
before the synthesizers take over and spill out a range of 70’s prog power
which will make each and every one of us remember how to rock the air keyboard.
Labyrinths Fade starts with a fade-in, something I haven’t
head in a while, but it works well as the riff rolls in a repeats with more of
a classic rock feel to it. There is some truly epic solos that intertwine some
technical mastery over the big soaring layers of guitar, that sound like they
have input from the fingers of Daniel Mongrain. When the vocals do appear that
have a deep hypnotic chant to them, which play well off solo after solo. The
big synthesizers appear again so that you know they’re still about, before the
rest of Labyrinths Fade shows off a bunch of killer musicians coming together
and producing something quite magic.
At the time of writing this, I wouldn’t be surprised if they
have already turned the tape on again in the studio and pressed record. It’s
just a shame that the ongoing pandemic halted their planned live shows, but you
know that something good will be just around the corner. Roll on 2021.
I had previously reviewed …As Your Wanderer Taps At The
Invisible Gate when the band self-released it, but thought I would put the
review up again as Worst Bassist Records have given it the vinyl treatment on
some cool looking purple wax.
Nothing sparks my interest in music more than the sentence “new
album that consists of one 37+ minute song” and it’s a journey in to space that
not even the Space X entrepreneur could wrap his brain around.
Previous offerings from the Nashville 3-piece have clocked
in at 9 and 16 minutes but this truly is a trip into the minds of a band that are
taking you to realms beyond. This time the vinyl version splits the 37:35 over
both sides of the record.
Everything starts feeling high up amongst the clouds as the
guitar strums and the slow drum rhythms hypnotically hold you out there.
There’s some keyboards moving in and out of the mix and the guitar begins to
take flight and walk in to the distance reminding me in parts of Sons of Alpha Centauri
and Yawning Man. At around 6 minutes the guitars really kick in and you feel
the deep space like stomping groove as the instruments bend together slowly
over the outer space keyboard effects. Add some soaring guitars to the mix and
you can picture the kaleidoscopes of light in your mind as though they were
playing right in front of you.
The eerie keyboards continue on as the guitar and bass
output gets fuzzier, the elevated guitar work takes on another level and sounds
huge, and they all intertwine for quite some time. The soaring guitars over the
hypnotic drone like wall of fuzz is reminiscent of Electric Moon and Black Moon
Circle, and how they take you from there to an almost dreamy landscape of what
sounds like the sounds behind the atmosphere.
From here on you need to close your eyes and enjoy the trip
as you take a heavy psych ride through the planets of space rock, accompanied
by Ryan Westover (Bass/Synth), Frank Hand (guitar) and Kate Haldrup (Drums).
To add to the mind trip of an experience, an accompanying
video has been produced by Stan Brakhage/Terrence Malick Films that lasts the
full 37:35.
I highly recommend that you check out ElonMusk as they
really have something special in the making here.
Many bands have tried recreating what they do live on vinyl
or CD, and as good as many bands have done, there is only a handful that manage
to “take you there” with the recording, and then there is Electric Moon, the
true kings & queen of the live record. Looking back through their catalogue
of releases, you are spoilt for choice with live recordings for a space jam
mood or trip out mood or a heavy psych mood.
Recorded at 2019’s Freak Valley Festival in Germany late
into the evening of a moody stormy day, Sula, Lulu and Pablo take you on four
long cosmic journeys through the night sky and onwards towards the vortex that create
a kaleidoscope of colours in the listeners mind.
Having previously watched the performance that was filmed by
Rockpalast several times on YouTube, the use of deep rich blue lighting is what
sets the mood for what the next 65+ minutes inserts into your subconscious.
Increase begins and evolves in what sounds like the magnetic
fields between the Earth’s atmosphere and the edge of spaces gravitational pull.
The keyboards and effects float in and out and attach themselves to one another
as the atmospheric twist starts to take control. The cymbals start to crash and
the bassline hooks everything to it, creating the soundwaves for the guitar to
lock into and start your journey into the cosmos. As you hit the ten minute
mark you are well and truly travelling through the asteroid belt at speed with
a drum/bass rhythm that is hypnotic whilst constantly hurtling forwards, space
rock style. Played loud and you can feel the intensity force itself through the
sound waves and out towards the outer reaches. After one final solar blast, the
rocket defuses and everything starts to reduce back to its former self and the
satellite falls into its flight path and the mission is complete.
If Increase has taken the satellite to its destination, then
777 is the satellite kicking into the orbital mission that it was designed to
complete. 777 is hypnotic, fuzzy and moves like a satellite that is hurtling
round its designated planet at speed whilst battling the elements of a meteor
shower. With many an Electric Moon song, the spaces between the sounds creates
an added atmosphere, but not in the first ten minutes here as its all intensity.
Think an updated revamped version on London’s UFO club from the 60’s/70’s with
liquid lightshows and strobe lighting. The final third of 777 see’s the
satellite’s booster’s kick in to slow everything back down and conserve what
solar energy is left before the sun’s power vanishes behind the moon. Within
the 20 minutes of 777 all 3 members push their instruments to another level and
beyond.
The Picture is an epic 19 minute hypnotic space rock epic.
The trance inducing rhythm section is time perfect and pulls you deep into the
darkest parts of the universe beyond any solar system. Guitars soar, cymbals
crash and a multitude of electronics and feedback make the intergalactic
journey even more abrasive. At around 14 minutes you reach probably the
furthest point away from home as all goes quiet before something pulls you back
in rather abruptly.
A shorter version of D-Tune has its warm Middle Eastern feel
to it as it builds up layer upon layer to create a rich fuzzy feel to it. The
way D-Tune rolls along and evolves is like a mystical orb that your brain tunes
in to, especially when witnessing this type of musical live. If you know what I
mean by this, then you just know. It’s no special club or musical gang, it’s
just something that happens (usually in a dark room full of strobe lighting)
and a 5 minute song can turn in to a couple of hours.
To finish is the addition of Der Mondsenator auf dem Weg zur
Erde, an acoustic track performed as an extra session back stage. It feels up
close and personal with the organic unplugged vibe that feels delicate but is
still busting with power. If you look out there, the visual version is quite
easy to find.
What else can I say? Electric Moon hit a rich vein of form
several years back and it continues with a healthy stream of studio albums,
live records and re-releases that never disappoint.
If you were at Freak Valley in 2019 then this is the perfect
way to freeze the memory in time, and if you weren’t there then headphones on,
lights off, kick back and nod.
Rock Freaks Records have released a limited run of vinyl on
a couple of different colours and Sulatron Records have released the CD
version.
It had been a few years after the release of V when 2019 saw
the first of a years’ worth of monthly song releases started as the band
re-explored all their instruments from Amphibia Studios in Leicester. From
Birth of a Star to Supernova to El Indio, the 1st of the month
always had you wondering what they had constructed the previous few weeks.
Roll on to 2020 and they’re back to the album format with a
collection of ten songs that they have been working on over the last few years
with the line-up of Mark Buteux, Gavin Searle, Dodge Watson, Tony Heslop and
Lee Madel-Toner.
Monotron’s psychedelic intro layers keyboards upon guitars
and forms something of a 70’s sci-fi backing track. It has a laid back yet
majestic feel to it and spends its 97 seconds building and building into
something special that you know has been too long in coming. I would probably
compare it to seeing a band headline a festival that rarely play live and your
locked into the zone when the lights go down and there’s the magical energy in
the air.
The big opening riff for Ever and Forever slowly rolls in
with thick fuzzy layers of guitar. It only take seconds, but you are already
back sat at the wheel of a dirty old Dodge pick-up, travelling through the
night from town to deserted town, heading into the ass end of nowhere. The riffs
and the drumming feel structured in a robotic space like fashion, which
enhances that repetitive journey into the unknown, and there's still nod to classic early Queens of The Stone Age. The mix of male/female
vocals and use of both voices as instruments (the oooohs and aaaaahs) and
guitar work around the line “where nobody goes, where no one knows” adds to the
mystic of the track. Who knows where the pick-up will end up?
Bad Trip floats in and enters your brain like LSD should do.
A single drum beat and keyboard note lifts you to a level deep in the
sub-conscious before a guitar riff that slides side to side without actually
ending. The vocals overlap and harmonise as they drift in and out and mould
themselves around that guitar without properly showing who they are. As another
keyboard enters, you can feel it pull the guitar in a slightly different
direction as though the trip is turning bad, before everything fades away.
Toxic Heart is like the antidote to Bad Trip with its
positive new beginnings feel to the riff the track is built around. A slow
meandering track that sounds very psychedelic in an English way.
Pigs in Space opens with huge sounding repetitive riffs that
take you off in to a space bound journey before the keyboards swing you away,
then push you back towards the stars. Again the clever use of the voice as an
instrument that drones in and out has you thinking this would fit well on a
Desert Sessions record.
Sicariohas a slow doomy reflective feel to it that sounds
quite haunting, and Brainless is a 3 minute instrumental that shows how good
Leicester’s finest are.
The female vocals that start the layered vocal build up to Murderer
have that feeling of early Monster Magnet and about 2 minutes in the riff kicks
in over the whaling keyboards and it builds to sounding absolutely huge. My
only complaint is that it finishes far too quickly.
I am the Hurricane follows straight on with big stoner rock
riffs that swings between high mountain summits and deep canyon depths. Like it
hurricane, the song slowly rolls and rolls and rolls along.
Closing the record is Fine, a song that could be and
probably should be your favourite hit of the summer. I admit that whenever the
internet radio is playing at home, it’s tuned into a station dedicated to 90’s
alt-rock or grunge, and Fine would fit perfectly in there somewhere. Kicking
off with a warm fuzzy opening riff, before some jangle and then the guitar just
talks to you as the song struts along with a confident swagger. There’s layers
of vocals, keyboards, harmonies and there is a poppy feel to it in the way The
Dandy Warhols have the knack of writing good songs. I dare you not to be
humming the chorus for the rest of the week.
With the first listen, VI clicked with me and it just sounds better and better with every play, and believe me, it’s been played many times this week. VI is The Kings of Frog Island at their finest again which will no doubt please the regulars as well as bring in more listeners. They finally have a live show booked in for later this year which we should all be psyched about and hopefully this pandemic doesn’t bump it again.
Kozmic Artifactz have released VI on vinyl in transparent
blue or a tasty amphibious green/black splatter.
I keep saying it more and more and records like this back me
up, and I will say it again, Australia must have a perfect alignment of the
stars, the earth and the moon, as the amount of awesome psychedelic music
coming from down under at the moment is mind blowing.
So here we have Sonic Dhoom, a new two track single from
Melbourne’s The Black Heart Death Cult. I guess this is a taste of what to
expect from their second album Sonic Mantras that will be released later this
year.
Side A’s song Sonic Dhoom is big, glowing and melts away the
deeper you feel yourself being pulled into the next four minutes of finally
crafted 60’s psychedelia. Whilst floating in a trippy dreamlike state, the
wonderful sitar work throughout elevates you to a Middle Eastern time within
another time guided by the trance inducing vocal lines. Definitely a song to
lie back and lose yourself in.
It’s Getting Heavy on the reverse slowly lifts you with its
mix of keyboards that drift in, pick you up and elevate you with a song that
sounds heavenly. By heavenly I mean with its choir like vocals through the
chorus, making the listener imagine bright white skies and some sort of bright
light in the distance that is beckoning you towards it. I can imagine this
being their antidote to a previous 20 minute jam they have just fuzzed out
live.
Salty Dog Records released a run of 150 blue/yellow splatter
7”’s that look stunning, but as quick as they appeared, they disappeared. If
you keep a look out there may be another press. Bandcamp is your saviour
though, so you know where to go and what to do.
Sonic Mantras should hopefully be released later this year
on Kozmic Artifacts.
Ever since I started buying records split releases have
always been something of novelty that gives you the feeling that they are rare and
collectable in some way. In the cast of most of them, they’re not, but ever
since the first split 7” that I possessed, the coming together of different
styles and ideas adds to the magic and mystic of what you hold in your hands.
Fast forward over 25 years and the two separately produced
pieces of photocopied artwork has long been replaced with full sleeve artwork
that encompasses the whole feeling of the record, with Six.D.Six supplying the
bands and the label with an illustration that stretched through space and time.
Released by Australian based label Psychedelic Salad
Records, they have brought together fellow countrymen Comacozer, a band who I
have been a big fan of for quite some time, and Mexico's Vinnum Sabbathi, a
band who I have known about but have for one reason or another never crossed
paths with before, so here we go off in to the unknown.
If I had the chance to put music on one side of a 12” record
then my method of delivery would be just one long song, and that’s exactly what
Comacozer have done with their single 19 minute track Sun of Hyperion. Quoting
the press release, Sun of Hyperion is journey that continues on from their
debut track Helios Hyperion, written and recorded in 2014. A regular feature of
their live shows, Sun of Hyperion was recorded at the same time as their last
album Mydriasis.
The track starts slow and distant, buried somewhere in the
realms of deep space. The guitar is slight and meanders through the dark paths,
backed with space like samples and voices talking about taking trips on LSD and
never coming back. From here the guitar line the song keeps returning to over the next 19 minutes, starts. Building and building, the bass, then the drums enter the picture as
the keyboards pull you in and out the atmospheres of the different moons and
worlds this trip is taking you too. Sounding uniquely like Comacozer, I can also
hear the atmospheric build up’s that Electric Moon are oh so good at creating.
There is vast sound to the recording and that the guitar
lines keeps repeating itself almost hypnotically and you know it is taking you
to a place deep within the outer reaches, then at around ten minutes
everything turns up several notches as though the journey is crashing through a
meteor shower or the remnants of an exploding star.
From here onwards Sun of Hyperion soars through the night
sky as the guitars take you up and beyond, and as the journey concludes through
more cosmic turbulence, the 19 minutes could have really been 19 million light
years.
Like I said earlier, this is the first time I have properly
connected with the sounds of Vinnum Sabbathi, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Reading in to the story here, the tracks HEX IV and HEX V are the latest tracks
contribution to the bands HEX series, from the Base 16 or hexadecimal numeral
system, with a goal of writing 16 songs in total to contribute to split
collaborations, like the one we have here. Now that is quite some plan, which
will really show their talent in expanding the musical boundaries, which the band
look to definitely have, shown by the recording here being done in one take.
HEX IV: Cassini’s Last Breath starts slowly and interacts
with the space travel communications between base and satellite, which I’m
guessing is taken from real life recordings. As the raw feeling of the guitars
play out in a Sleep like way, it doesn’t take long before their space travel slowly
picks up some speed and sounds HUGE. Big riffs and cymbals that are recorded to
tape this well really are something special. After the communication talk
mentions about being proud of an amazing accomplishment, the bass line kicks in
like Geezer Butler would, and the spacewalk drifts off into the dark realms of
the cosmos.
HEX V: X-15 Research Project starts with early space travel
text spoken over a slow bass line, then drum beat, then a big stomping riff
that will have all of your head’s nodding in time. Over the 9+ minutes here you
have a massive sounding beast of a slow mix of something between stoner rock
and doom metal that sounds as though it is being played live right in front of
you, it’s that good.
With both songs being the first time I have taken a trip on
space cruiser Vinnum Sabbathi to their corner of deep space, I’m hooked and will
be going back in time to visit the rest of the HEX.
The split 12” records is a format that more and more labels
seem to be putting out at the moment and this one stands up with the best of
them. Both bands are thousands of miles apart and have contrasting styles, but
both versions of instrumental “heavy” really do complement each other and fans
from each band will have no problem diggin’ what’s on the other side of the
record.
Psychedelic Salad Records have done a fine job in putting
out a couple of different colored versions which can be ordered from their
website.
Once every few years the axis of the Earth rotates at
exactly the right degree, the planets align, something magical is conjured up
in the Californian desert and the Earthlings? appear.
Dave Catching, Pete Stahl, Molly McGuire, Adam Maples,
Matthias Schneeberger and Julian Goldwhite take you out into the night and sit
you round a small fire that slowly burns away as you lie back and watch the
millions and millions of stars that cross the night sky and blow your mind. So here we have it, new Earthlings? material.....
The Clapper slowly glides in from the distance as every
instrument entwines to create what is the riff that sticks in your head for the
rest of the day. The bass slowly reverberates, joined with the ever so slight
drum beat and deep space like keyboards before the guitars pick their way in
sync with Pete’s ever so distinctive vocals that are as warm as they are
powerful.
The guitars kick in for the first time with the keyboards
and The Clapper sounds huge, as though a burst of light has flared up and
turned the darkness in to a deep shade of purple or orange. The harmonies of
Pete and Molly and maybe more starts here and becomes more and more haunting as
well as mystical as the song evolves. As the song quietens off again, an
atmosphere is created where you feel you can almost reach out and touch it.
As they tell you to “listen closely you can hear it
disappear” you can feel everything and everyone vanish into that moment in
time, the dust catches the wind and the moment has passed.
On side B, Off My Nut starts with a load of voice samples
which makes me think of the last time I saw Pete/Dave perform as Earthlings? in
Manchester. From there onwards the next couple of minutes turn into the band
doing their own unique twist on something between a Wild West and Folk Rock
good time song. Again, the harmonies flow and the endless little samples fall
into place.
Hopefully there is more to come after this 7” as I can hands
down say that The Clapper is one of the best songs Earthlings? have written and
released. It is also housed in some cool Bad Otis artwork.
Released via Last Hurrah Records, the limited 500 run is
split between 5 desert related colours.
It has been exactly a year since Sageness released Akme on
Vinyl, and has evolved in to an album that has received some great reviews
across the music scene (see review). Even though it was only their second
official release, something just clicked in a recording studio in Spain,
producing some musical magic. After speaking with guitarist David, he kindly
answered a few questions about the band.
Q1. So how did the whole Covid-19 lockdown and social
isolation work for Sageness and you as individuals? Like here in the UK, it
looked as though you were all under some heavy restrictions a few weeks ago.
As you say in our country, the government made some very
heavy restrictions, we were locked up at home for 3 months, only going out to
buy basic things. As for the band, imagine…
I took advantage of writing new songs and riffs and
recording some new ideas. Aitor, the new bassist learnt the Akme album and some
songs from the first album, and Fran the drummer, he managed to get hold of a
digital drum set, so as not to rust and be able to start with some ideas that I
sent him.
Q2. Can you explain the meaning behind the name Sageness?
It was Koke's idea, our first bassist. At first when he said
it I thought it was a kind of weed, ha ha, but it means something related to
wisdom, but with common sense. Exactly the trait of utilizing knowledge and
experience with common sense and insight. And we like it how it sounded.
Q3. I remember reading an interview with you guys a while
back and one of you said “music does not need words to tell” which is a good
statement. As the band evolves, do you still feel the same way?
Personally, yes. I remember when I was younger and I did not
understand the lyrics to songs, but they transmitted many feelings and emotions
to me. But of course the voice is an instrument and I value good lyrics a lot
too. After listening to a lot of music, I am left with the experiences that
instrumental music gives you, due to its sound and complexity of structures, it
makes me immerse myself in to it more and somehow travel. I highly value the different
sounds and vibrations.
Q4. The tracks on Akme have quite a unique sound in the way
that you can make songs that shouldn’t sound heavy, actually sound heavy (but
not in a metal way), and other parts sound as though they have been played on
almost antique equipment. Has it taken some time to refine your sound and
style?
Thanks Martin, I really like that perception you have. Not
having a singer, you have to take more care of the song and have to expand the
sound spectrum. Personally it has taken me time to find a sound and I have been
trying various pedals until I feel comfortable. The effect you refer to may be
a pedal that imitates that analogue tape effect touch, or may even be a thing
of the mix and the master, because Marco Lima from Herzcontrol did an
incredible job, just like our friend Nacho when recording us. We are very happy
with the result!
Q5. How do you all go about writing songs? Do you all come
to the table with ideas or do you just jam it out for hours, feel the flow and
let the music write itself?
I usually go with ideas from home, and at then when together
we start shaping it. But we like jamming a lot to see where the song can go, in
fact we record those jams and tried to extract the best of them.
Q6. Do you have “Jam Room” so that you can get the right
vibe when recording?
We really only have one room and what we record is with
mobile phones or with a single microphone. But the room is cosy, and we have a
fridge there!
Q7. Can you ever see Sageness having vocals on a track? Or
writing a verse/chorus/verse kind of song?
Hmmmm… I think not, but who knows. I see more the
possibility of a verse/chorus/verse structure with a bit of something.
Q8. Have you started writing and demoing material for your
next release?
Yes, and we are excited about it! But we want to work the
tracks without haste, and we are doing that right now by sending each other
demos.
Q9. Can you tell us a bit about the artwork for Akme?
Diogo Soares did a great job, with the artwork we loved it
at first sight. It has many elements that we think fit with our music: the door,
the desert, the space, we see it as a kind of portal. I think Diogo called it
"The Healers" and that also fits us well.
Q10. Have you had a chance to get out into Europe to play
live? It doesn’t look as though live music will happen much in 2020 with the
ongoing worldwide pandemic, but I can see 2021 being the year of the gig and
festival. What would I expect from seeing Sageness play live?
This year is going to be difficult, apart from everything
that is happening in the World, Fran is still 800 km away, and is coming to
visit for a few days. Maybe some concerts near our hometown. Our goal right now
is to create another album. We really want to try and play a few concerts in a
row soon.
Q11. What the last 3 records you have listened to?
The last ones I have purchased are Kryptograf, Heavy Trip
and the last album from Slift. Awesome bands!
Q12. What does the rest of 2020 hold for Sageness? Anything
else to add?
We will continue working on the new songs remotely, and if I
have the time I would like to record a song on my own. It's not a big deal, but
it's our turn right now, but we're excited about the new ideas.
We are trying to edit our first album on vinyl. Many people
asked us if we can press it and we believe that we can do it with some help.
Stay Tuned. Cheers from Spain and Stay Safe.
A big thanks goes to David for sitting down to answer these
questions. Keep an eye out on their social media as their debut self-titled
album looks to be getting the vinyl treatment soon, followed by new material
which should be arriving not to far after that.
It must have been five years ago when I took a punt on
buying the LiVE! FULL Tilt Boogie cassette after hearing a track online. The
tape arrived in its killer packaging with stickers and patches and the
recording from Kingston NY back in 2014 totally blew me away.
Fast forward beyond a couple of “end of year top 10” albums
in Geezer and Psychoriffadelia, the New York State 3-piece returned last year
with the more spaced out psychedelic blues EP Spiral Fires, setting the scene
for what Pat Harrington (Guitar/Vocals), Richie Touseull (Bass) and Steve
Markota (Drums/Percussion) were putting together for what we have here.
Dig is a word that I recon Pat Harrington says at least 20
times per day and it kicks straight in with a huge rolling riff, backed up with
some sweet cowbell. As you’re asked “can you dig it?” it’s already obvious how
good the albums production is, as it feels huge. The main hook of the song is
based around a couple of big groovy riffs that have that fuzzy edge, and again
that cowbell appears and there’s no way you can sit still to this. With a brief
interlude, the song slows down a bit, feeling like you’re off out into the
swamps and you get the first taste of the bluesy solo guitars that walk away in
style and take you out there, before that riff roles back in and you walk with that
swagger again.
Atlas Electra starts with a slow riff with a massive groove
to it and I can see why people are giving comparisons of 70’s rock here. The
song in many ways feels like the more laid back Geezer with a psychedelic touch
to it, and that riff wraps itself around you and slowly grows as it takes
control. As Atlas Electra slows down in parts, the production has a real up
close and personal feel to it, as though you are right there in the studio with
Geezer. Again, the solo work, laid back blues and slide guitar pull you in
before Pat’s solo elevates everything higher and higher.
Dead Soul Scroll is a real moody affair with a dark trippy
atmosphere that sometimes strips it so far back that it feels like Pat is
having some sort of spiritual awakening. The final 90 seconds feel like he has
been reborn as when the riff kicks in, the whole band let loose and rock out.
Awake rocks like a classic rock 70’s jam with its slow
groove that tells you a story on the way to the last couple of minutes when the
guitar solo takes over with epic proportions and you can feel your hair in the
wind as you cruise on into the night.
Title track Groovy is something else. In my younger years
when I first discovered Kiss, their unique way of strutting their stuff made a
real impression on me, and the first time I heard Groovy it took me right back
there. The riff is warm and fuzzy but has real purpose as you can almost see
them strutting down 42nd street, cool as you like and not giving a fuck what
you think. From drums to bass to the vocals, everything here just screams
Groovy. The chorus with some keyboards and organ in the mix, will be in your
head all day. When Kiss first appeared and did their thing on the streets of
New York, there was a raw touch of magic, and Geezer have found it here.
The opening riff for Drowning on Empty is downright sleazy
in the vein of ZZ Top or Mountain and just rocks after that. Throw in some
Hammond organ and big 70’s solos and your set.
Now if you want to lie back and feel the night sky as you
take a trip to the unknown, then Slide Mountain is your jam. A slow and winding
journey into desert territory, the guitar glides in and out and soars towards
the stars in the night sky. Sit back, close your eyes, open your mind, and this
trippy five minutes of bluesy psychedelic magic is quite a ride.
Black Owl concludes the album with a huge near ten minute
jam. Starting off with a big stoner groove with a southern twist that almost
drifts into doom metal territory, Black Owl stomps around like a hurricane
moving slowly across the land. Sounding more in the territory of some of their
earlier work, I am definitely getting the sounds of Saint Vitus or Spirit
Caravan here. As the song stretches out, the instrumental trip through its second
half is another hazy trip, seeing all three members musically on top of their
game.
What more can I say? Every time you think Geezer have hit
their heights, they come back with something even better. With Groovy they pay homage
to the best of 70’s rock and fuse it into the bluesy swagger they have more
than already perfected. I could sit here and write line after line about how
cool the record is, but you really have to go out and experience it for
yourself.
Add to the listening the awesome artwork that shines like a
backlight and you have an album that you’ll keep going back to for a long time
to come.
Released on Heavy Psych Sounds, you know that there is a
variety of cool versions to purchase. Dig!
Sometimes a bad situation produces a good one, and in the
case of a band member tripping on an amp and needing recovery time whilst also
in lockdown, the vaults of Psychic Lemon have been opened and jams have been jammed
out.
I am the first to admit that I was slightly late to the
Psychic Lemon party and it wasn’t until I heard Live at The Smokehouse that my
conversion happened. My world of Psychedelic Rock always borrowed from the
Heavy Psych/Desert/Stoner Rock background, but the more I explored the bands
from the Psychedelic/Instrumental/Krautrock world, the musical path crossings
are limitless, and Psychic Lemon are one of the UK’s finest purveyors of Cosmic
Psych Rock.
To quote the Cambridge 3-piece, “….we are releasing Studio
Jams Volume 1, a 44-minute collection of our favourite jams, spread across
three tracks. Two of the tracks are recordings of spontaneous jams, while the
third track evolved from one. All three tracks were recorded live in the
studio, using a £150 battery-powered recorder”.
Starting with 23-minute epic Jam 1, the bassline picks you
up straight away and builds with the drums whilst both guitar and keyboard
effects create the space travel feel, with the listener being taken from the
edge of the atmosphere and out into the unknown. All three musicians are locked
in perfect timing as the mission never once falls off course. The guitars soar
towards you from above and beyond, the drum work, whilst never stopping, keeps
throwing you more and more beats and cymbals to keep you on your toes as you
can feel yourself hurtling into deep space, and the synth’s keep swirling and
twisting at your brain. The intensity of the song has the epic Hawkwind Space
Rock trip to it.
Jam 2 slows it down with a bigger, more rhythmic drum beat
over a guitar that screeches slowly, whilst subtly sat quite far back in the
mix, kind of reminding me of The Cosmic Dead. It feels darker in places like a
giant hurricane, with the rhythm section being the eye of the storm that never
stops revolving and the guitar acting as the volatile weather that you never
quite know when its power will erupt. The explosive eruption doesn’t strike,
but the huge walls of sound swirl round and round, leaving the listener in a
state of near hypnosis.
The third and final jam, Jam 3, speeds up again with a lot
more distortion in the mix this time ala The Heads. Feeling as though each
instrument is travelling at speed and trying to elevate and take over, it
creates a feeling of positive and negative particles pushing against each
other, creating a powerful electric charge. Mix this with all the far out
synths and keyboards and you are taken on quite a cosmic adventure.
Following in from last year’s highly praised Freak Mammal,
these 3 jams are a welcome continuation in to the minds of Psychic Lemon. To
think this was jammed out and recorded live on a battery powered recorder show
that the band are always at the top of their game. I’m sure post-injury and
post-pandemic we will see more from the vaults, and be able to witness their
explosive powers of psych in a live setting.
Knowing that they had been busy during the lockdown hear in
the UK, I sent over a few questions to find out what else the band, Martin Law
(Drums), Andy Briston (Guitar & Synth) and Andy Hibbard (Bass), have been
up to…..
1. So how is lockdown and social isolation working for
you as individuals as well as Psychic Lemon?
Martin: Thankfully, my life hasn’t changed much because I
can work from home. Andy H says that he was already a hermit, so lockdown
hasn’t changed his day-to-day life too much! Andy B: I’ve been furloughed, which is great, but there’s no
guarantee my job will exist when that scheme ends, so it’s a mixed bag. In the
meantime, I’ve taken the opportunity to upgrade my home studio, explore my
locale by foot and generally commune with the flora and fauna of my garden. As a band, we’re still not able to rehearse or record with
the lockdown, which is a shame.
2. Your blog mentioned that Andy H badly dislocated his
shoulder a few months back, causing the band to go on hiatus. How’s the
recovery going?
Yes that’s right. It’s pretty serious as far as dislocated
shoulders go. Andy H was offered surgery just before lockdown, but chose to try
physio before making that call. However, it looks like surgery will be needed
after all. That’ll be in September, and hopefully back to full rehearsals
before the end of the year. We may do some very short sessions before then, but
things won’t properly start back until the end of the year.
3. What’s the story with releasing Studio Jams Volume 1?
Was it a matter of piecing together various bits of tracks and recordings or
have you got a secret vault full of epic late night jams?
We have a huge vault going back years. Every rehearsal
involves at least one new jam, and we record everything, from little surf rock
throwaways to 20-minute space journeys. These days all our tracks start from
these recordings.
4. Had the three jams been compiled using older material
or material you had already planned for a future record?
It’s a mixture: two of the jams (Jams 2 and 3) were born on
the same night, 17th December 2018, though Jam 2 is a one-off recording from
that night and Jam 3 has been reworked over the last 12 months. That one is
likely to end up on the next album. Jam 1 was a one-off recording from May
2019.
5. As you titled it Volume 1, is it right to assume that
you have more volumes to follow soon?
We’ll see how long the lockdown lasts, and how many tracks
we can find that are well recorded. We are slowly cataloguing and reviewing
(and mixing) things. We’ve just put out a live track for an NHS charity
compilation with the promoter Fishbowl Events (https://fishbowleventsuk.bandcamp.com).
6. You had some killer reviews of Freak Mammal. How are
you going to top it?
Thank you. We never have a grand plan when working on a new
album, all we ever want is to end up with a collection of tracks that we’re
happy with. Freak Mammal is dense and heavy in parts, so the next one may have
more quiet moments on it. Though we thought the same thing before we started
recording Freak Mammal...
7. I’m guessing that you are still itching to get out on
the road to further promote Freak Mammal? Do you have any speculative plans for
when you can all stand on a stage and rock out together again?
We’ve missed out on some big gigs, like the Shepherd’s Bush
Empire, so we’re definitely looking forward to whatever the next gig is. That
gig will now be going ahead in April, so that is the soonest one that’s
definitely going ahead. We’re just excited by the prospect of just getting in a
rehearsal room together and making some noise again.
8. Your records on Discogs fetch a fair amount for
collectors already. Is there any represses in the pipeline?
We don’t think so, sorry! The repress of our second album, Frequency
Rhythm Distortion Delay, is available on our Bandcamp page for £12. The
first album, Psychic Lemon, was repressed just last November and sold
out pretty quickly. Freak Mammal was also released in November, and
although it sold out, I’m not sure if it will be repressed any time soon. You
should interview Adam Harmsworth, who runs Drone Rock Records, and ask him!
Represses are hard for independent labels, because although having every album
in stock is good from an income point of view, it also means spending money on
pressing records that might never sell, and it’s much harder to put together
customer orders. Also your house would be filled with thousands of unsold
records.
9. Finally, do you think we will see any live music
throughout the UK in 2020? Do you fear for independent venues, shops and record
labels or do you think the dedication of all the underground music scene’s
pulling together will make everything stronger in the end?
We would love to get a gig in this year, but overall it’s
looking a little grim at the moment. However, there is solidarity too. For
example, the guy who runs our current studio has just had a successful
fundraiser to keep his studio going. Other artists in the psych scene, like
Black Doldrums, Helicon and Black Tempest, have been broadcasting live gigs at
home as well. Now is the time for people to support the little people, in the
music industry and elsewhere. Call up a local cafe directly and order
something, buy things online from somewhere other than Amazon, buy your music
from Bandcamp.
A big thanks from me goes out to Martin Law for sorting the
interview. If you haven’t already checked Psychic Lemon out, then follow these
links.
I was late to the party with the Australian Psych scene but
have had some fun making the time up discovering a long line of killer bands
since, with one of these being Mt. Mountain. They first hooked me in with
Golden Rise and I’ve been a fan ever since and discovering that a limited 7”
with 2 new tracks was imminent, being the predecessor for a new full length to
be released this year.
Knowing that the first batch of the 500 copies went on
pre-sale at 7am UK time, the alarm was set just in case, and I’m glad it was as
minutes after I had ordered my copy it was already sold out.
Reviewing this, I haven’t got the item in my hands yet,
though it looks like a rather special package from the pictures. So thanks to
Bandcamp, here we go.
Tassels starts upbeat with levels of guitars and keyboard
creating an ever growing soundscape that slowly twist away in the back of your
mind. Like on previous records, the vocals quite subtly sit behind the music with
a warm near-hypnotic feel to them. The first half of Tassels hangs off a cool
psychedelic guitar hook backed with lots of cymbals, before the song bends
itself into dreamy hypnotic territory with the organs and synth and the next
few minutes are like a magic carpet ride into the unknown. Tassels is the sort
of song that could play out for 30 or 40 minutes live.
Deluge is much more of a laid back track like a slow and
magic trip into your sub-conscious. The warm dreamy mystical guitar lines walk
you out towards the light backed up with hand played drum beats and it is pure
magic. You can lie back, close your eyes and feel yourself drifting away, it
really is that good. My only complaint is that as quick as it starts, your
journey is already over.
This has really wet my appetite for what Mt. Mountain will
be bringing us later in the year. I am not sure if the band or Six Tonnes De
Chair Records have any copies left, but you need to be getting this from your
usual digital platforms.
One of Portugal’s finest heavy psych export’s Astrodome have
been quiet of late. Hopefully it’s a sign that the instrumentalists are hidden
away some place, jamming out new music. Let’s find out…..
Q. So how is the Covid-19 lockdown and social isolation
working for Astrodome and you as individuals? What restrictions are holding you
back right now?
It's been a tough time for everybody. As a band, we had to
stop jamming and rehearsing like we normally do and started adopting some other
ways of being productive. We also had a show cancelled in our hometown that we
were really excited about, since the last time we played there was quite some
time ago! As individuals, since we are not full time musicians, we try to work
from home as much as we can.
Q. Astrodome have been quiet over the last few months. Does
this mean that you are in the studio or in the writing process for album number
three?
That's right, we are mostly focused on the writing process
of the next album, for this album we decided to not rush things and take our
time, maybe for a next year release, we hope...
Q. How do the 4 members go about writing songs? Do you all
come to the table with ideas or do you just jam it out for hours, feel the flow
and let the music write itself?
We don't have a particular way of writing songs. In the
beginning, we definitely used a lot the classic "jam and let's see what
happens" formula, but that way of making music can sometimes lead to
monotony and repetition, and we are trying to not fall in the mistake of
releasing the same album over and over again. As we get more maturity and
responsibility as a band, we think it's important to start adopting some other
ways of thinking and composing, so, it's not impossible that if someone brings
an awesome and fully structured song to the rehearsal or if the drummer creates
a cool guitar riff, it won't end up being an Astrodome song! There's no
rules...
Q. Do you have “Jam Room” so that you can get the right vibe
when recording?
We do have a rehearsing space or if you wanna call it, a jam
room. It doesn't have the most inspiring vibe ever since it's located in a
basement but it gets the job done... we guess! (haha)
Q. It has been well documented with the mess your previous
record label left you with at the release point for Astrodome II. Did you ever
get all the legal stuff sorted? And on a better note, do you think we will ever
see the record available to buy as it deserves a proper release.
Oh man! That still haunt us to this day! We have sorted most
of the stuff, except for the streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music,
we still couldn't get control over that unfortunately. We also still get
contacted by people who are not aware of the problem and think that we scammed
them. Nightmare...
About the record, we would like to release a new edition of
it and the previous one also, maybe at the same time we release of our third
album? Maybe sooner? Let's see!
Q. Can you tell us a bit about the cool artwork for “II”?
We started working with talented artist Clara Pessanha on
the cover artwork, discussing references for illustration style even before
finishing the album. In a certain way at some point the music, artwork and the
concept of the album were mutually developed, and they're deeply related with
each other.
It represents something like how our perspective on things
changes as we move through space and time. We see a mirage of the Sun, which we
forget as we get into the landscape. As we move forward, we realize the Sun is
there and it is real, so we celebrate it. On the back cover it turns out that,
although it is there, the Sun doesn’t hold itself as we thought, and there is a
titan raising it. It has to do with subjects of curiosity and illusion, scepticism,
belief, devotion, ending with deception, the final surprise revealing that the
truth is different from everything we thought before. This is related to what
happens throughout the music, like its tonality, or root note changes.
Q. “II” was released, like the first album, on cassette. You
must be a fan of the format and enjoy seeing it make a small comeback?
Actually, those releases were just something that happened
naturally. We have a friend, Jonas that had just started a small label and
booking agency called Ya Ya Yeah! and he wanted to start releasing some bands
that he likes on cassette, so he just asked if we wanted to be the first band
and "test the waters". We guess that tape and analogue stuff is one
of those "fetishes" that every band must have, and a cassette is an
awesome piece of memorabilia you can get from a band, so it was a cool thing to
do!
Q. Have other labels approached you to re-release “II” or
release a new record?
When we announced all those problems with our ex-label, we
got contacted by a couple of labels who shared their interest in working with
us but none of them actually said something definitive, we also didn't want to
rush things and end up being in a bad situation again so we decided to let the
things cool down for a while and think about all the possibilities sometime later
when we have our next album...
Q. Can you ever see Astrodome having vocals on a new track
or a song that has a verse/chorus verse/chorus structure to it?
We can't say we don’t see that as a possibility. We try to
impose ourselves less and less on what we can or should do, and we let things
evolve in ways that are not necessarily the same as what we've done so far. We
work on every new track based on an idea that is being built, and the structure
develops accordingly. Someday an idea may justify having vocals, or having
verse / chorus verse / chorus structure, or both. We don't have anything
against that kind of structure.
Q. I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Astrodome in
the live setting yet, what would I expect from one of your shows?
We think our live shows are a completely different thing
from our studio albums, at least we try to make it that way and honestly that
is the exciting part of seeing a live concert from a band that you like. When
we have the right conditions, we try to set up a mood that makes it more like
an experience rather than a musical concert, we use lights, drones and sound
effects for an uninterrupted show. Hope we can meet you at one of our concerts
in the future!
Q. Once the world starts to get back to normal, will
Astrodome be hitting the road again to tour?
Unfortunately we are not full time musicians so we have to
carefully manage our time between our jobs, making music, playing live and taking
care of the band’s "office" side. Playing live and doing a good show
requires a lot of practice and planning and we agreed that while working on the
new album, we would play less shows and that's what we are trying to do. We are
really focused on making a good album. We might still play here and there but
we don't think we will hit the road very soon for another big tour.
Q. With festivals like Sonic Blast hosting some awesome
line-ups over the last few years, the psych/stoner music scene in Portugal
looks to be getting bigger. What other Portuguese bands should we all be
checking out?
Sonic Blast is our favorite festival to play and to be as a
fan, and it definitely helped the "scene" getting stronger and we
even risk to say that it influenced many new bands being created! About the
bands suggestion, it's going to be hard to list them all because there's a lot
of amazing stuff happening in the heavy and psych scene, and we are friends
with almost everyone! We recommend the "classic" ones like Black
Bombaim, 10000 Russos, Solar Corona, Stone Dead, Kilimanjaro, Big Red Panda, Black
Wizards, and some of the newer stuff like Jesus the Snake, Fuzzil… There's a
lot happening and we could stay here for days listing them all, and that's
great!
