The third volume of Riot Season Records’ “In Search of
Highs” brings together Electric Moon and Terminal Cheesecake. As a testament to
the bands and the label, the pressing of 300 in blue and 300 in red basically
sold before they were even released, which is quite something.
Electric Moon start the record with “Beacon Light Hereafter”,
a song that slowly taps along and creeps its way in with a lightly psychedelic
riff that feels quite haunting, but in a sense that you are heading towards the
light. It slowly builds with a certain emotive feeling only Electric Moon seem
to be able to produce, and the song starts to take on a life of its own as it
thickens up with layer after layer of what conjures that sense of travelling
off into space. The soaring guitar drops in and out followed by a riff that
opens up the space rock, then as it comes to a high everything stops and you
can feel everything drifting out into to nowhere. The bass remind you that
you’re still out there somewhere and the drum rhythms hold you in the hypnotic
trance of space. As this keeps drifting about the guitar takes you further out
there, back and forth, again and again and again. Everything slowly starts to
build and become more hypnotic, giving you the sense you’re slowly coming back
towards the Earth, and as the hypnotic rhythm speeds up you’re back to a
familiar place and for the next 5 minutes Electric Moon kick into overdrive
doing what they do best, making that jam that keeps repeating its self, putting
the listener into a sonic beat that feels like a chant to the skies.
No way can your head not nod to this, 21:44 of pure magic. I
know that they have done it before and will do it again, but “Beacon Light
Hereafter” shines like a beacon amongst a back catalogue of the highest
standard.
On the flipside, Terminal Cheesecake are a band I remember
from back in the 90’s listening to John Peel but I have to admit they’ve passed
me by since they reformed back in 2013.
“Fake Loop” slowly takes hope of you in an abrasive manor
with a series of spoken lines mixed within that give you a darker psych image
from the backstreets of England. Layer after layer of fuzzy guitar lines that
almost feel apocalyptic at times.
“Song for John Part 2” has a fuzzy live feel to it that
kicks in like an early Hawkwind song. As the thick layers of guitar ride over
each other, the rhythm section creates a drone like hypnotic backbeat. As the
song takes on a life of its own, the speed doesn’t pick up and the fuzz of the
guitar turns a lot more abrasive.
Definitely a lot more mood inducing through the darker feel
to the music and subject, Terminal Cheesecake are a band I am going to revisit
the back catalogue.
A third pressing in black is now up for pre-order:
Terminal Cheesecake
