Polish instrumentalists Moontoy return with their first
official release containing five new tracks that span well over 40 minutes,
which is always a good thing. Recorded at the end of 2019 it appeared on
bandcamp and immediately sparked lots of interest on Facebook groups due to
their long laid back spacey jams.
The drum work at the beginning of Mega Chrabaszcz shows
straight away that the 3 piece know their instruments and as the guitar
meanders through the night sky interlocking with the percussion, you can almost
feel the laid back warmth of the desert. The drums have a jazz swing feel to
them and take the song towards the distance and almost silence before it brings
you back in and the songs most memorable riff hooks you in and repeats itself
again and again, and all three members really let go and rock out. Then almost
instantly they take you back into the wilderness to near silence. As a
reference point, think Yawning Man.
B.C.O is slow, more psychedelic and dreamy and takes you up
passed the stars and out into the cosmos, reminding me of some of the
slower/quieter times of Sungrazer. Again, the drums and bass float in complete
harmony as the guitar work takes you on a warm instrumental journey that could
be endless in time. I will be playing this again and again.
There is more of an atmosphere building in Kosimazaki which
make me think of Colour Haze with how the track is structured. Whether recorded
in a studio or in a live setting, all three members show a real awareness of
each other and how their music keeps evolving.
Swinder has a lot more distortion in the guitar sound at the
beginning and it feels more like a song that vocals would fit with, but not for
long as we are off into jam territory again before the structure of the song
builds and builds back up and evolves into soaring guitars and lots of cymbals
crashing.
You can immerse yourself in the atmospheric warmth of final
track, Miedzygaz. Probably the most laid back song on the album, it picks you
up and as you close your eyes you’re drifting away into another dimension in
time, before everything concludes with a final rock out.
Overall, Moontoy really do shine here with their psychedelic
instrumental jams that travel between the desert and the stars, and I’m really
looking forward to seeing what other trips they will be taking us on in the
future.
The band have released the album digitally and Galactic
SmokeHouse have just pressed a run on CD digipack.
It only seems like a few months since I reviewed their first
record, yet Gorm are back already with their latest offering Elysium. Split
into Part I and Part II both running at 12+ minutes each, the German 3 piece
are progressing nicely and refining their heavy psych craft into some aural
magic.
Elysium Part I doesn’t take long to kick in as the song
begins to build like the launch into space Gorm are about to take you on.
Guitars dive in and out and create big atmospheric soundscapes that build layer
upon layer as the journey into the cosmos unfolds.
To make musical comparisons, the obvious are Elder, Rotor
and My Sleeping Karma, but Gorm are forging their own path throughout the
planetary systems. With this style of instrumental rock, bands can either
travel into the desert or the night sky and Gorm sit well up within the comets
and the nebulas.
Elysium Part II feels more of an upbeat track that has its
interstellar course already set. There’s lots of rolling drum beats and
crashing of cymbals before the song takes a different course and the bassline
ramps up (ala Pink Floyd) and the guitars float in and out as you feel the
gradual descent back towards land.
With the endless cancellation of shows right now due to
Covid-19, we are just going to have to wait a little longer to witness the
whole of Elysium being played live.
After several listens to this already, I have no doubt that
they will have their own “Dead Roots Stirring” epic in the making soon,
hopefully in the next record.
The digital version is already out there to consume on all
the usual platforms and the two vinyl versions (White/Blue Smash and Blue Translucent)
which look rather special, will be available any day now.
Also, if you didn't manage to see their livestream session on Saturday night, I have included it here as it was rather good!
After years of playing in bands such as Hermano and
Orquestra del Desierto, Dandy Brown released his first solo album Scattered Days in 2018, a collection of songs covered in blues and desert rock with a
twist of Southern California. I must still play this album once a week as it
sounds as fresh today as when the songs were written and I still think someone
needs to give it the magic vinyl re-release treatment.
So, role on a couple of years and Dandy is back with a
collaboration of songs with Dawn Brown (nee Rich), now his wife, under the
title The Fizz Fuzz.
Hereby roles in like a classic 70’s convertible heading out
into the heat of the Californian desert. With that laid back grooving guitar
riff that Dandy is so good at writing mixed with Dawn’s more intricate guitar
work and solo’s that really elevate the first four minutes of the album. If I
didn’t already know this was to be the single/video to promote the album, I
would have picked it straight out as the warm fuzzy classic to get people’s
heads nodding.
Collapse continues with the fuzzy guitars and slowly drifts
through the warm night sky with a more trippy psychedelic feel to it. Both
guitars soar in and out, and if you close your eyes you can picture the oil
mixed with coloured water effect as you’re taken out to that place and beyond.
Like in Hereby, you instantly know Dandy’s vocals as they are so distinctive on
their own and when harmonised here sound so good.
If Dark Horse II sounds familiar, that’s because it was original
recorded as a Hermano track. It still has that raw dark feel to it, which would
sit well on a film soundtrack with its acoustic strum that holds the verse’s
together. You can make the comparisons with John Garcia’s vocals, but the vocal
harmonies with Dawn over the chorus really tops the track off. Everything about
the song has you thinking dark grey filmography work.
Following on in the same slow meandering mood is Shame.
Starting off with just vocals and distant guitars, Shame builds into a slow moody
affair with a simple but affective guitar line that goes up then down over the
chorus and vocal harmonies. Then just as you think you know the lay of the
song, both guitars kick the saloon doors open and let rip in style for 90
seconds, before Shame slowly drifts off into the night.
Conditional Love flips a totally different switch with a
lighter, cleaner, uplifting sound with Dawn taking vocal duties. It sounds
positive and paints a picture of new beginnings. Midway through there’s a
really good lighter psych solo that strums along nicely.
I’m really digging Dawn’s vocal whaling throughout Dear Old
that has that desert sound and mixes well over Dandy’s voice. The track has
that warm fuzzy feel again but this time the guitars feel a lot more powerful and
the leading riff really hooks you in and hold’s everything together and is,
again, a real head nodder.
The album closes with Loose Lips and its big soaring guitar
work then the dreamy drifting psychedelic Sunkissed.
I hope I am already preaching to the converted, but if not
Palmyra stands up as a really good album that has that desert sound to it, but
is a variation that is unique to what Dandy and Dawn are doing. They have
managed to mix that gritty “Sons of Anarchy” biker soundtrack feel with a warm red
fuzzy sunshine element to it which to me at least, has that Southern California
big open road feel. The stand out bright red album artwork (produced by Dawn)
may have contributed to this feeling.
The Fizz Fuzz also features performances from David Angstrom
(Hermano/Luna Sol), Steve Earl (Afghan Whigs), Mike Callahan (Hermano/Earshot),
Alice Albertazzi and Gianfranco Romanelli (Alice Tambourine Lover) and Mark
Engel (Orquesta del Desierto).
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.
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. YouTube - Bandcamp - Facebook
Mythic Sunship released Another Shape of Psychedelic Music
in 2018, this being their fourth album in as many year and with their ability
to shape psych, time and musical space, they have become a leading light in
European psych rock and this time they bring the listener in to their live
experience in Changing Shapes. As the album description notes, Mythic Sunship
played three shows at Roadburn 2019 and Changing Shaped documents the most
ferocious and courageous of the three.
I know that many bands have put on legendary performances at
Roadburn over the years, but to have it documented on an official release
elevates the classic performances in to something even more special.
Awakening builds slowly and as it drifts from side to side,
each instrument beginning to evolve. The addition of saxophone takes the
evolution to another level with its free form jazz like explosion. Once the
craziness of the build-up levels off, all roads turn towards the same direction
and the space psych journey takes voyage in to the night sky. Lighter
interludes on the journey give way to more sax, which tells its own tale of
said voyage. The final two minutes really take the listener to the next level
with some rock out guitar work, an explosion of drums any cymbals and the ever
present bass line holding everything together. It’s a shame the track has to
finish on eleven minutes.
A longer version of Elevation follows on with its mind
warping space rock journey. The bass is there and hooks you with its constant
near hypnotic pull. The drums keep time but take several side trips into
explosive territory before returning to let the guitars soar towards the sun
and the sax take center stage, taking the listener never to the same place
twice. The last four minutes get faster and faster and the bassline implants
itself deep in your mind as the journey into the cosmos concludes at quite a
rate. If you are holding the record you will notice Elevation is not on it, but
the accompanying digital download has it ready for you.
Way Ahead feels a lot more organic, like a jam version of
earlier songs. With the majority of the track being driven by the guitars and
percussion, the sax implants itself deeper in to the mix when it makes an
appearance. From the minute go, each band member lets go of themselves and rocks
out with this supersonic cosmic journey into hyperspace.
Olympia is another new jam that takes you above the clouds
into eleven minutes of a sonic psychedelic build up. There’s a lot of guitar
riffs that role over each other and form big grooves that are plugged by the
free flowing sax. It truly turns in to the stand out moment on the record.
Concluding the release, Ophidian Rising is back to earlier
material that kicks in like a heavy psych freak out from the start, no build up
or atmospheric opening, just killer heavy psych. Like a huge comet crossing the
night sky and breaking through the Earth’s atmosphere, the ball of ever
evolving fire keeps spinning and speeding up before taking everything along as
it hurtles down to make an untimely connection.
With their impressive output of music, I doubt we will have
to wait for more new music, but with the new jam’s here, you are again elevated
into another Mythic Sunship trance like state. I have yet to experience them
live, but this records scratches the itch until they hopefully come to the UK
one day.
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.
