Review: Big Scenic Nowhere - Lavender Blues

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.

Big Scenic Nowhere – Bandcamp – Heavy Psych Sounds

Review: Yawning Man - Live At Giant Rock

After the cancelation of this years Stoned and Dusted festival due to the worldwide pandemic, the organiser's curated the online streaming party, Couchlock and Rock. With their chance to really raise the bar and produce a live cinematic experience in the style of what Pink Floyd did with Live at Pompeii, Yawning Man took their instruments and amps out to Giant Rock in the Mojave Desert and played a 52 minute soundtrack that’s as big as the atmosphere that surrounded them.

On the film, you follow the 3 band members walk towards the rock and the sound of sand and dirt crunching under foot takes me straight back to watching this live online in the middle of the night, and then seeing Mario start up the generator seemed very symbolic in the way it played its part in kick starting the music of so many good musicians.

Tumbleweeds In The Snow starts high up in the sky as Gary’s guitar feels like its walking on the very edge before Mario’s bass plays out its first few chords, the oh so high riff begins, Bill’s drumbeat kicks in and your 15 minute descent begins. It drifts, it floats, it soars through the huge skies above the Mojave, and the clarity of the production makes you feel as though you are right there with them. You can truly lose yourself in Tumbleweeds In The Snow as it rolls from side to side whilst slowly pulling you towards the warm feeling of the light. Like other songs Yawning Man songs, they have the ability to write music that is hypnotic through its feeling of repetitiveness, but if you actually dissect it, very few lines are the same. What Gary does with his pedals and guitar to produce such sounds is still a mystery to me, which adds to the magic of it all, so instead of wondering, it’s good just to close your eyes, kick back and embrace the jam before you.

The Last Summer Eye starts with an epic sounding riff that takes me back to a world of 80’s/90’s surf video’s. It has a slightly loose distant feel that drifts away into the sky before expanding itself back into that epic riff that entwines itself over the rolling bassline. If I hadn’t seen the concert film and its huge overhead camera shots before hearing this, I would have pictured huge scenery shots of coastline and boards riding the endless crashing waves.

The tongue in cheek titled Nazi Synthesizer takes you out into the sun to remind you why you fell in love with the music of Yawning Man. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but it takes me back to a place when I first discovered Rock Formations and Pot Head, with that expansive feel to the guitar sound that seems to have no outer limits. Both guitar and bass play there part as they create a warm, slightly fuzzy onward motion and I can picture Gary, Mario and Bill sat back in a car, windows down, the warm breeze flowing past them as they drive off into the desert, completely content, not saying a word.

Blowhole Sunrise/Space Finger is another 17+ minutes of desert rock at its finest. It floats, it glides, it holds you in a trance as you can literally feel all 3 members musically connect somewhere beyond the realm.

What more can I say? I pained a few rooms at home and I must have listened to this 40+ times and it gets better and better every play. The sonics of the recording are absolutely huge and it deserves to be played live and loud.

They could have played live in a rehearsal room or a dark empty venue, but no, only Yawning Man could play the biggest open space you could ever find, and fill it.

I have seen them live on many occasions over the years, but now I can only imagine the 3 piece playing to the desert background and the awesome sun drenched massive blue sky, hence next time I will have to close my eyes when I’m stood in a dark club on a dark UK winters evening.

Thanks to the fine folk at Heavy Psych Sounds Records, you have a selection of vinyl versions to compliment the DVD. Shout out to how good the special edition limited cover vinyl is and would the USA postal service hurray up and deliver my DVD (damn you Covid-19!!).

All I can say is you have to own this record.

Yawning Man – Plastic Cactus – Bandcamp - Heavy Psych Sounds 

Review: Big Scenic Nowhere – Vision Beyond Horizon

The fruition of Bob Balch and Gary Arce’s Big Scenic Nowhere project was 2019’s Dying on the Mountain EP, three songs showcasing their mix of prog rock and desert psychedelia. With their other bands still in full rotation I had no expectation for the band to regroup at any time soon, so the news of their return to the studio and the penning of an album deal with Heavy Psych Sounds showed that they meant business and the collaboration of the various players had already come together to work on something rather special.

With this recording the line-up consists of Gary Arce (Yawning Man), Bob Balch (Fu Manchu), Tony Reed (Mos Generator), Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man), Per Wilberg (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Opeth), Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator, ex-Kyuss, QOTSA), Bill Stinson (Yawning Man) Lisa Alley and Ian Graham (The Well), and Alain Johannes (Them Crooked Vultures, Chris Cornell, Eleven).

I had read a couple of reviews of the record before its release and they talked about this super group had produced a desert rock or stoner rock classic, but after a few listens I have to question if they have really listened to it properly because the core of the band take the listener in several different directions and Vision Beyond Horizon offer so much more than expected. To say it’s just stoner rock or Fu Manchu or Yawning Man can be heard in all the writing does this collaboration a dis-service. As much as I like both the bands, this is a collaboration and release that cannot be pigeon holed or compared to anything else. The first time you listen to the record, you will understand.

The Glim starts with a big stomping riff that hooks you straight in before one of several quick guitar solos. The song as a whole has a mid-pace loud David Bowie channelling a psychedelic space rock Soundgarden kind of vibe, if that makes sense? It sounds big and bold with layer after layer of guitars that roll over you like the oceans tide and the waves of dark psychedelia already have you hooked. 

If your still somewhere between the layers of The Glim then The Paranoid grabs you by the throat for the next ninety seconds with something that took me by surprise. I remember a few years ago talking to Gary about his love of 80’s punk rock and this is definitely a homage to the likes of The Exploited, UK Subs and GBH. Fast, manic and in your face.

Then I Was Gone has a really fuzzy guitar tone to it with the bigger riffs sounding like they’ve been turned up to eleven. Between the surges of guitar, the over-layered dual male/female vocals add a more complex melody to the haunting wizardry that Master of Reality continuously perfected, mixed with the darker vibe that played heavy on many of the tracks from QOTSA’s Lullabies to Paralyse. I really like how the appearance of a few keyboard lines hang nicely off the vocals and fill a gap that you don’t even realise is there.

Mirror Image starts ever so slightly up in the clouds before the big mantra chanting vocal lines implant themselves deep in your mind. Half way through a huge slow monolithic like riff starts with one guitar, then the second guitar adds to it and that’s it, this is the band that I keep subliminally hearing but can’t quite put my finger on, its Cathedral. The riff is pure Cathedral at their finest. The vocals kick straight in after that before the epic sounding guitar solo and it all makes sense now. In no way is this replicating something Cathedral have written, it just has that vibe and gives me that feeling of doomy rock n roll with that haunting like Lee Dorrian voice. 

Hidden Wall floats you to a laid back place that I picture as those moments before the dawn sun appears from the night sky. It’s trippy, it’s psychedelic and it takes you on an adventure across the sprawling landscapes that are seeing the first glimmers of the light. If you wanted a reference point away from any of the members’ bands then the band the King Buffalo have blossomed into is definitely it. The song grows and evolves and has sown the seeds in to what could be an epic 15-20 minute opus, unfortunately it ends on seven minutes.   

Shadows from the Altar slides back into the doom n roll with the deep layered drifting vocals that sit between two riffs which the song is built around. The first being something of a rolling wave and the other being big rock riff that deserves a fist pump and “oi” chant after it. 

En Las Sombras is again going into the territory of King Buffalo but this is the song that takes all the drifting magical waves of the desert mystery courtesy of the Yawning Man connection. The trippy verses roll in and out against the deep meandering baseline which creates a magical journey, taking you “in the shadows”. To top this off, there’s a combination of two kick ass guitar solos.

Tragic Motion Lines is a mix of psychedelic stoner rock and some riffs and melodies that come from the darker side of an Alice in Chains record.

As the album draws to a close with The War Years, the channeling of their inner Pink Floyd concludes what is a quite magical collaboration. The strumming of acoustic guitars, the tapping of keys, the light yet powerful drums and a variety of keyboards and synthesizer work that builds a small passage into the inner mind. You can almost picture the setting on a small boat on a small stream, drifting slowly towards the horizon.

Vision Beyond Horizon is full of musical surprises and will hold its own for many years to come. With the incoming success of the record and a debut live performance planned for Stoned & Dusted, I really hope 2020 see’s Big Scenic Nowhere bring their live performance over the pond in some way or another. I can also honestly say that each of the nine songs has something for the listener, meaning that there is no filler on this record, it’s that good. Shout out for the quality album artwork as well.

Bandcamp – Facebook – Heavy Psych Sounds 

Review: Northern Haze Cassettes

I know that that cassette tape’s never went away but I am definitely a “champion” for their resurgence of late as my youth was spent dubbing cassettes and doing mix tapes, and it often seems like a practice that was gone and could have been forgotten.  

Canadian label Northern Haze have started releasing cassette versions of albums and with their two latest two releases they’ve brought to us all something rather special.

If you said to me, “pick two records from the world of desert rock that kick started things and changed the way you listened to music”, then there is no doubt these two would be at the top of most people’s lists. 

Yawning Man’s first album Rock Formations and Fatso Jetson’s classic Mans Ruin Records release Flames for All get the cassette makeover in cool little packages.

I would be very surprised if you haven’t heard these albums at least 100 times each over the years hence I’m not going to review them both track by track, but for some reason you know little about them, then you’re in for a treat.

Both cassettes come in oversized boxes that remind me of 90’s computer games, with the original artwork adapted to fit and you will see that the iconic Fatso Jetson Planet of The Apes image looks as good today as it did back in 1999. The Yawning Man cassette is a deep dark blue with a corresponding button badge that matches the albums sky above the rock formation. The Fatso Jetson cassette is a bright pink that matches the album artwork and there is also a neat little inlay card and a cool square apes badge.

Hopefully Northern Haze have a few more surprises lined up in the future, but for now check the link below before they’re gone forever. 

Webstore

Live: Yawning Man in Manchester

Looking back (probably too) many years, living in the UK and getting to see Yawning Man often seemed like a mirage. Many hours of time and travel have gone under the belt over the years, but as time has moved on and Desert Rock hero’s hitting a rich vein of form lately, I kind of expect to see them play the UK at least once a year. And after last night I can honestly say that they just get better and better.

After 4 hours of traffic hell covering close to 170 miles I manage to just get to the venue as the band are tuning up. Again, a decent rabble of the weird and wonderful turn out in the usual Mancunian summer rain, with them all knowing they made a better choice than the 50 thousand down the road watching Metallica.

I have managed a couple of full listens of “Macedonian Lines” which I’m halfway through trying to review and knowing how good it sounds, live they should be a real treat.

With Bill Stinson back behind the drums, keeping the chemistry going with Gary Arce and Mario Lalli, “Macedonian Lines” kicks of the evening with its guitar that elevates and takes you to places above and beyond and the familiar live jam of the desert takes over. “Melancholy Sadie” follows with such an awesome baseline that helps expand the track and it builds and builds into one of those spine tingling moments already.

“Skyline Pressure” starts off with that hypnotic baseline that hooks you in and carries you away, followed by two more new tracks, “Bowies Last Breath” crawling along with the drums and such a good baseline that compliments Gary’s guitar that dances and slides all around it, unlike anything other bands can do, and “I Make Weird Choices” that dips and roles and glides in that classic Yawning Man style.

“Ghost Beach” follows and stands out as such a magical and float away sounding track which is deservedly a song that’s always on their set list now.

“The Black Kite” roles in and lifts the crowd towards another level, sounding better than ever live.

After a few technical issues with Gary’s pedal board, most of it is disconnected so that the show can go on, and on it does with the final 15 minutes of the meandering “The Revolt Against Tired Noises”. Again, as a 3 piece playing in harmony with everything melting together. With this, the night drive back home didn’t seem so long.

With the band already hitting their groove and this being show number 5 of a huge European tour, if you’re seeing them in the next few weeks, you’re in for quite an evening. Hopefully the recording of the show does it some justice.

Yawning Man Interview: Gary Arce

I did this interview with Gary Arce at the end of 2017 when Yawning Man did a week of shows in the UK. It was supposed to be published in something else I did which never happened, so here it is. 
It was mid December in Newcastle and we were in the middle of some really bad winter weather. It took some doing getting through all the snow and ice to get to the Cluny in Newcastle and as I got out the car the temperature was -6. It didn’t stop people from showing up though. In a lot warmer bar with a couple of drinks, Gary was kind enough to give me a half hour of his time.

TH: When you think of a Yawning Man show, this is not the weather you imagine?

GA: No I did not expect this weather but I’m kind of liking it actually. Back home in the high desert we get snow every couple of years but it's nothing like this.

TH: At least you managed to get over from Manchester due to the snow drifts.

GA: Yeah, luckily we didn’t get stuck and the travelling has been good at the moment.

TH: It’s good to see Yawning Man all over the UK this time.

GA: We’ve played the UK on the last few tours and usually we’d only play London and everyone kept asking us, when are you playing more shows in the UK and we kind of went outside of our usual booking circle and talked to some friends and booking agents and kind of did it ourselves with little help and did it punk rock DIY stile. The audiences have been really good and the shows have been packed the last few nights. I think last night in Coventry there was around 150 people there on a cold Sunday night which was really cool.

TH: So your back to being a 3 piece on this tour.

GA: Well we’ve always really been a trio but last time we had a fourth person which was Dino which was cool but this time he’s in college and we had our friend Justine (Ruiz) play which was cool but we feel as a trio we have much more time and room to jam and experiment live together.

TH: Like the other day with your early jam session in London at The Dev?

GA: Yeah, that was trippy because we started at like 5:30 in the day and it just went from there and I think people really appreciated what we did there. I think we often feel a bit more afraid when there is a fourth person and I kind of find myself not playing as much but when it’s a trio it’s like a wheel to me with the bass, drums and guitar and it just flows and flows and flows.

TH: So have you had a chance to take in much of the UK?

GA: Manchester was really beautiful and was probably the one place I got the most to check out. London to me is cool because there is a lot of people, and being from the desert, I’m not used to it seeing people running about all over and in front of the cars and just the general mayhem. The thing I do like about the UK is that everyone is super nice, cool and everyone is so chilled out and friendly. There’s no attitude. Even people who aren’t at the shows but just in the streets and shops are super friendly.


TH: Now I know that you like English music and punk rock.

GA: Yeah I love punk rock. Amebix, Discharge are one of my favorite bands. I remember from the first time I saw them as a kid they were my favorite punk band. I also really like Bauhaus.

TH: The Beatles?

GA: No, I’m not a fan.

TH: Morrissey?

GA: I really like The Smiths but not so much the solo Morrissey stuff. I remember when that record “Meat is Murder” came out and I was really digging the guitar player (Jonny Marr) and the stuff he was playing. But punk rock to me has always been close to my heart.

TH: You’ve been few a few venues this week which most of these bands have probably played.

GA: I’ve seen quite a few old punks around that look like they’ve been here since the 70s that look like they’ve played in the UK Subs. I remember seeing The Exploited back in 82 in Los Angeles and there was a huge riot and I think Wattie was the one who incited it. It was scary but cool at the same time.

TH: Ha, you still see him wandering the street of Glasgow walking his dog with a bottle of cider!

TH: You’ve been touring a lot lately. The US, South America, Canada. You’ve certainly done some miles over the last 12 months.

GA: Yeah, we toured the US twice this last year. The US can be a tough gig and I probably like Europe better and I really like Canada. Canada is beautiful and the people are like the UK. Super cool, super friendly, great music scene. You hit the US and it gets a little different. Some parts, well you get to the south and it gets interesting. The south is a hard fuckin place to tour.

TH: Have you been to Australia yet?

GA: Not with Yawning Man but with my other band Ten East which was me, Billy Cordell, Bill from Yawning Man and Bryan Giles.



TH: And you played as Ten East the other night?

GA: Yeah we did but Ten East is a project I started that was usually more an improv thing and to be honest I wasn’t even sure who was playing. My friends in the Netherlands were like “hey dude do you wanna do Ten East tonight?” and I’m like “sure” so they just brought their guitar amps and bass and off we went. It kind of just evolves every time.

TH: Any more plans for Yawning Sons?

GA: Yeah, with Yawning Sons we actually recorded the other day but I’m not sure what’s happening with it yet.

TH: What about doing it live again? It’s been a few years since the Desertfest thing happened.

GA: Yeah I remember that, it was cool but my amp kept going out and the sound guy was being all weird and shit.

TH: I remember watching Mario saving the day though.

GA: Yeah, Mario basically took over and acted as my roadie. It could have been a real disaster but the crowd seemed to dig it.



TH: There’s enough people here that want to see it here again, or even Ten East playing a Desertfest?

GA: Ten East is fun, the version I liked was, well there’s been so many versions, but the first one was be and Brant and Mario and Bill, and the second version was me and Bill and we brought in Scott Reeder, the guy from Red Fang Brian Giles played guitar and Greg Ginn played guitar and bass, from Black Flag. And the third version was me and friends from the Netherlands and that was the version we played the other night as I was in the Netherlands.

TH: You probably just missed the Red Fang guys as they’ve been in Europe the last few weeks.

GA: Yeah, they are such good musicians live.

TH: So a new song dropped the other day.

GA: Yeah, “Ghost Beach” came out the other day. We went into the studio as we got some free time.

TH: Was it intentional or a spur of the moment thing with the free studio time?

GA: Well what happened was, somebody offered us a few hours in the studio and we had the day off so we went in there, very Yawning Man style, very natural, Mario started a bass line and I came up with a guitar melody and it just flowed out live. It was written there and then in the studio. We just pieced together everything. Part 1 then part 2, pressed record then off we go.

TH: And where are you at with a new album?

GA: We’re in the process of coming up with new songs. There’s three new ones written. One is very different for Yawning Man which you’ll hear tonight. It’s got a very repetitive riff, quite an up paced one. I’m not sure when we’ll record yet. When we get back to California everybody is busy with their families and jobs and getting back to regular life. But it will be coming sooner rather than later.

TH: What about Zun, any more plans for that?

GA: I really want to try and do more Zun. Me and Sera keep in contact and John lives where I live. It’s just a matter of trying to get everyone on the same page at the same time. It’s usually me actually getting off my ass and doing it.

TH: You must have been happy with finally seeing the record get released as “Burial Sunrise”?

GA: Yeah, what it was, was Yawning Man songs that never got release so we worked more on them and the label dug what we did.

TH: The actual release also just appeared out the blue with no build up.

GA: What happened was that me and Bill got in the studio to start a new Yawning Man record and I recorded like 6 songs on guitar and then Bill wrote his bit and we had it all there with no bass. We had it sat there for 2 months and Mario was busy, so the engineer was like you have to come down, these songs are really good and you just play bass on it. So I went in there and I started playing bass on some of the songs and Mario got in there finally and played bass on one songs and I played bass on the rest. Then we did some keyboards and experimenting with it, then he goes “let’s call John” and I go, “I got a friend called Sera from Black Math Horseman, let’s call her”, so like everybody’s like yeah this is cool. John says he can do 3 and Sera says she can do 3, perfect and it worked.

TH: Do you ever think you’ll have a chance to play it live?

GA: I tried to and we got offered some tours and some big festivals, especially the European ones. The minute the record came out I was getting emails. I contacted Sera who was busy with her own band and John was busy so it was unfortunate we couldn’t as Zun is one of the better albums that I would have loved to play live. Sera’s schedule was more lenient but John has music and work and family, so is always super busy.

TH: You’ve also been doing some stuff with Toby Wrecker who has put out a series of 4 EP’s over the last few months.

GA: I met Toby when I travelled Australia with Ten East. Him and his brother have a band who played with us as a duo and they were really good, the Hotel Wrecking City Traders. I did stuff on a couple of their records and Toby’s solo album.

TH: Did you record over there or vice versa?

GA: No, it was through files which was kind of weird for me as I’m so used to just jamming it out live. They sent me the files whilst in the middle of another album and the engineer was cool to say I’ll give you like 4 hours for free. So for the next 4 hours Toby and his brother sat drinking beer sending file after file through. It was a strange experience doing it but it came out really cool.

TH: You must now look back at the last 4 or 5 years to see the desert music scene take off. As you’re one of the first names on the Desert Rock team sheet you must get all sorts of requests?

GA: Haha, i’m so busy when at home as I got my own life to the point, sometime I won’t even play my guitar for weeks as I just get wrapped up in normal life stuff. The emails come and go and I know Mario looks after that stuff more than I do, and someone will contact me going “hey dude did you read that email” and I’ll be like “err no” and they’re like “it’s super important that you have to read your email”.

TH: What’s coming up after this tour?

GA: Well we’re going to finish up a few more shows then start properly writing a new Yawning Man record which is the number 1 priority as we need one (**Note - This interview was done just before "Revolt Against Tired Noises" was released**). We’re than planning on going to South America. We have some festivals coming up next year but I can’t really say anything about them yet.

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