Who would have thought that legendary, drug fueled dronemetal miscreants Earth would grow up to be a super tight and twangy, modern cinematic country drone gospel ensemble? But that's precisely what happened. Dylan Carlson and company now evoke sonic landscapes that have more in common with Ennio Morricone or Scenic or Savage Republic or, heck, even Friends Of Dean Martinez or Calexico. These days it would make more sense for Earth to tour with Calexico than Moss or Monarch. They're a new band, one we love, quite a bit, but there is very little of Earth 2 or Extra Capsular Extraction left in their sound.
Beyond that, the new band is stellar, amazing musicians, who apparently can play a live set so perfectly, that we could barely tell it apart from the records proper. Such is the case with Radio Live, an ultra limited live lp, featuring recordings the band in Vienna, Austria in 2007, and live on KFJC in 2007. The KFJC set features guest Trey Spruance from Mr. Bungle (on baritone guitar and sitar!), but even then, these songs sound perfect. If it weren't for the crowd sounds, the applause, and the brief bit of stage banter from Carlson, we NEVER would have guessed this was a live album. More like a collection of alternate versions. That said, this IS truly fantastic, more of Earth's dreamy drone-y cinematic twang, atmospheric and emotional, haunting and musically mysterious.
As with all things Earth, extremely limited, 3000 copies, originally released on cd, but so limited we never even saw a single one, cool cloth-like jackets, with reflective metallic foil stamp artwork, ONE PER CUSTOMER!
You can read more of our gushing about Earth elsewhere in the list, but needless to say, we LOVE Earth. And if you have no Earth records, we recommend you start with the godlike Earth 2, an epic three track monster of tarpit riffs and slow moving rumbles. But
Another Japanese version to drive collectors and completists crazy! This is the import version of the most recent release from eternal aQ faves Earth, and in addition to the record itself, an absolutely gorgeous and timeless slab of dark lugubrious cinematic twang, this double disc tacks on a live disc, recorded in 2006 in Europe, and originally released on Southern Lord as Live Europe 2006, a disc so limited (maybe just tour only) that we never even heard about it, let along carried it. But it's just what you might expect, live versions of all the new Earth favorites, slightly heavier in places, maybe subtly more raw and immediate, but really hewing pretty close to the recorded versions, so most likely for completists only, or folks not put off by the idea of shelling out $35 for a record they already own, for the extra 6 tracks...
And be warned, we only got a handful, so when we run out, be prepared to wait for us to get more from Japan.
Our beloved Earth return, and continue to move ever farther away from their pioneering slow motion riffage, into a world much more stately and elegiac. A sound that more and more resembles A Cormac McCarthy novel rendered in notes and chords. In fact, some forward thinking movie exec, might consider having the modern incarnation of Earth score the next (inevitable) McCarthy movie adaptation. Blood Meridian? Would be pretty amazing. And almost overkill. As the sound of Earth evokes all of those images all on its own. The heat rising off sunbaked desert highways, animal carcasses beneath leafless tress, carrion circling overhead, old farmhouses burnt out and abandoned. The sky thick with a haze of campfire smoke, a dusty path stretching out forever into the horizon.
The sound on Bees is not a huge departure from Hibernaculum, more a subtle progression. The first track sounds as if since the last record, the fields have grown more fallow, the creek dried up, the youngest passed away and is buried in the backyard, beneath a pile of stones so the coyotes don't dig her up, the factory in town closed down, everything quietly and sadly fading away, leaving nothing but ghost towns and weed choked fields.
But the music on Bees, is not all as dour as that, it's also strangely hopeful, glimmers of sunlight through the slowly parting clouds, the chords major, the melodies, sweeping and majestic, it's hard with Earth to not think in cinematic terms, like coming over the hill to discover a verdant valley, a rushing river, and cows grazing, fattened on the bounty of the land.
The guitars on Bees are thick and full, but not distorted or heavy really, just massive, paired up with piano, and organ, thick ropy bass, leaving plenty of space, lots of drift and shimmer, the drums not so much a pound as a soft insistent shuffle, the music moving in waves, like a heavier Low playing country music, or Godspeed slowed way down, darkened and simplified. Earth is now a four piece and it shows, the sound is definitely more expansive and sprawling, cinematic and subtly complex. They're even augmented by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell on a few tracks.
Fans already know they need this (and probably already have it), but folks who have yet to check out Earth, or found their doomdrone trailblazing unappealing, might really dig this, as might fans of the Dirty Three, Calexico, Friends Of Dean Martinez and other outfits who traffic in the twangier strains of dark dolorous slowcore.
Cool cover art by Arik Roper, housed in a gorgeous black slipcover, letterpressed and printed in gold metallic ink.
FINALLY! The most recent Earth album on vinyl, but this ain't just any old vinyl, even by Southern Lord standards, this is so deluxe it's off the charts. Metallic gold ink on faux leather hardcover, like an old fashioned, and very big Bible, inside the lps are attached like pages in a scrapbook, loads of full color artwork, but the most important thing about this limited vinyl version, and perhaps the most frustrating, is the extra bonus track, available only here. More gorgeous sunbaked gospel flecked blues, languorous guitars, minimal drums, with horns and slide guitar, so beautiful and fits perfectly with the record proper. And again, only available here. Limited to less than 5000 copies, which seems like a lot, but for Southern Lord, and Earth in particular, it's probably not nearly enough. Here's what we had to say about The Bees when it first came out:
Our beloved Earth return, and continue to move ever farther away from their pioneering slowmotion riffage, into a world much more stately and elegiac. A sound that more and more resembles A Cormac McCarthy novel rendered in notes and chords. In fact, some forward thinking movie exec, might consider having the modern incarnation of Earth score the next (inevitable) McCarthy movie adaptation. Blood Meridian? Would be pretty amazing. And almost overkill. As the sound of Earth evokes all of those images all on its own. The heat rising off sunbaked desert highways, animal carcasses beneath leafless tress, carrion circling overhead, old farmhouses burnt out and abandoned. The sky thick with a haze of campfire smoke, a dusty path stretching out forever into the horizon.
The sound on Bees is not a huge departure from Hibernaculum, more a subtle progression. The first track sounds as if since the last record, the fields have grown more fallow, the creek dried up, the youngest passed away and is buried in the backyard, beneath a pile of stones so the coyotes don't dig her up, the factory in town closed down, everything quietly and sadly fading away, leaving nothing but ghost towns and weed choked fields.
But the music on Bees, is not all as dour as that, it's also strangely hopeful, glimmers of sunlight through the slowly parting clouds, the chords major, the melodies, sweeping and majestic, it's hard with Earth to not think in cinematic terms, like coming over the hill to discover a verdant valley, a rushing river, and cows grazing, fattened on the bounty of the land.
The guitars on Bees are thick and full, but not distorted or heavy really, just massive, paired up with piano, and organ, thick ropy bass, leaving plenty of space, lots of drift and shimmer, the drums not so much a pound as a soft insistent shuffle, the music moving in waves, like a heavier Low playing country music, or Godspeed slowed way down, darkened and simplified. Earth is now a four piece and it shows, the sound is definitely more expansive and sprawling, cinematic and subtly complex. They're even augmented by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell on a few tracks.
Fans already know they need this (and probably already have it), but folks who have yet to check out Earth, or found their doomdrone trailblazing unappealing, might really dig this, as might fans of the Dirty Three, Calexico, Friends Of Dean Martinez and other outfits who traffic in the twangier strains of dark dolorous slowcore.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Only have 3 or 4 of these. Probably won't ever get more. Limited to 330 copies and originally only available on the 2003 Earth / Null European tour. Some are on pink vinyl, some on light blue. Two lengthy tracks!
Originally released as a super limited colored vinyl 12", for sale only on a 2003 European tour (and limited to, depending on who you ask, either 330, or 660 copies) this amazing and amazingly limited record finally gets a proper release on cd. Which is also great considering the label that released the 12" apparently never paid the bands ANY money and actually ditched said European tour taking lots of the bands' money with them. Hopefully this will help set things right on that front, and at the same time it's a chance for those of you who missed out on the vinyl to finally check this out. KK Null, guitarist for Japanese sludge metal outfit Zeni Geva offers up a lengthy free noise exploration, guitars and electronics, abstract space-y weirdness, that gradually builds and builds into full on squalls of guitarnoise and ultra distorted electronic freakout. The cd also includes a twenty minute bonus track from Null, a sort of part two addendum to his original 12" track, and it's appropriately enough another extensive blooping swooshing analog space-out psych-free-noise epic, equal parts Merzbow and Space Machine (Masonna's space-y analog analog synth project). The Earth tracks is a single twenty minute long track recorded live at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle in 2003 and was one of the first (if not THE first) recordings to introduce the new sound of Earth, owed in no small part to the addition of Adrienne Davies on drums. A lot less sludgey and droney than old Earth, and a lot more hypnotic and melodic that later Earth, a very minimal post rock almost, with slow motion distorted arpeggiated melodies and woozy droned out riffs, all sort of pulsing and throbbing supported by simple shuffling, drumming and lots and lots of space. As hypnotic as ever, but definitely more rocking, and certainly the first hint of Earth's slow directional sonic shift.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Definitely don't need to say too much about this one. SUPER LIMITED obviously, this split single, Earth on one side, Neurosis offshoot Tribes Of Neurot on the other, was originally released as a give away to all who attended the San Francisco New Years Eve Earth / Neurosis show only. However, we (thankfully, surprisingly) managed to get a bunch, but considering the above, these will be gone in a flash.
The Neurot side is a killer, gorgeous long form drones, thick and serpentine, we hear some Niblock, some Chalk, some Taj Mahal Travellers, gorgeous and thick, dense and dark, one of the best things we've heard from those guys for sure.
Earth counter on their side, with some super stripped down Fahey-doom, sprawling slow motion Appalachia, tuned way down and allowed to spread out like a slow moving black fog. Just guitar mostly as far as we can tell, but pretty dang lovely.
Well worth your $9, especially if you were kicking yourself for missing the show. Pressed on clear yellow vinyl, in a striking, super thick full color sleeve, and as if we needed to tell you again, SUPER LIMITED, so one per customer!!
Not to be confused with Earth, WIND and Fire! Female fronted Dutch prog-psych circa 1970 here folks, and it's a cult classic. This was originally issued, and likewise reissued, several times with different cover art. The various covers we've seen all look nice, but this design, the spooky psychedelic postery tree roots one, is our favorite, so we're glad the Esoteric label elected to go with it for this nice, remastered reish. Cover aside, though, what we care about is the music, and this self-titled album, the band's debut, is a favorite, probably their best in our book. They got a lot proggier later on (nothing wrong with that!), more symphonic, but this album had a pop buzz to it that can't be denied, the songs here mostly on the shorter side. The groovy "Love Quiver" is the longest at a respectably proggy 7:35, but the others are in the 3-4 minute range of radio-friendly singles, which ALL these songs are catchy enough to have been. It's Earth and Fire's most (stonery) "rock" record too, with enough heavy fuzz riffing, acid guitar soloing, and dramatic majesty to interest some of you proto-metal types. The first track is called "Wild And Exciting" and that describes this record, exciting especially for fans of the Jefferson Airplane, Curved Air, Savage Rose, Shocking Blue... and we'd suggest that those into current bands Blood Ceremony and The Devil's Blood ought to check this out too! But, ignoring the female vocals aspect of this for a sec, we'd also liken 'em a bit to Captain Beyond (when they really get to riffin') and Iron Butterfly (there's some organ)... also, though, the Mamas And The Papas (the female vocals again, and classic '60s-ness) ... It's just one great song after another, moody -and- rockin', and that applies to the two bonus tracks here too, singles B-sides "Hazy Paradise" and "Mechanical Lover", the former of which you may recall was covered by Japanese psychsters Ghost on their Hypnotic Underworld album a few years back! Can we offer more of a recommendation than that?!
Synth-drone heaviosity and thousand-yard-staring contests are on deck for this project by San Francisco icon Chris Dixon. This man about town has been in countless projects over the years -- Death Sentence Panda, Cops, Murder Murder, Tujurikkuja, to name a few - mostly following a scum-rock/no-wave/hardcore axis of skronking jazz-not-jazz energy, perpetual punk enthusiasm, and a quick-witted tongue to boot. Earth Jerks is none of those things; and it actually came as a bit of a surprise for us as a meditative album of elegantly swirling radiophonic tones better suited for the hallowed chambers of the San Francisco Tape Music Center than a grimy, stuffy basement crammed with people eagerly awaiting Dixon to blow out their ears on drums, guitars, or both.
File #01 opens with a lonely set of synth clusters recalling the empty-band signal bleeps of modems vainly seeking a connection with another modem in the dial-up days of the internet, or maybe the overseas dial-tones while trying to make a satellite call to someplace in Vanuatu or Mauritius. As these tones shimmer and billow into long-form pieces, they maintain that sense of underlying melancholy through an archaic technology, as gorgeous oceanic harmonics and stoned-blissed drones ebb and flow, falling somewhere between Growing, Pulse Emitter, and Daphne Oram. Nice!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We'd like to say that the second missive from Chris Dixon's kosmische drone project Earth Jerks features the echoplexing electronics of Noel Von Harmonson (Comets On Fire, Sic Alps, etc.), but in true congressional testimonial fashion, we can neither confirm nor deny that. Dixon has long been a man about town here in the Bay Area, as a flamboyant personality showcasing his racket-making skills in the Spockmorgue / NoWave-esque outfits Death Sentence Panda, Murder Murder, and Cops (to name probably just a few). The Earth Jerks recordings are radiant coronas of analogue radiophonic worship, blossoming through extemporaneous tendrils of golden drone and hallowed tone-float. The first two tracks tiptoe upon electronic lilypads resting on moonlit pools whose echoes reflect as softly poetic but suitably kosmische arrangements akin to whatever Klaus Schulze album you'd call nocturnal. The final number spins through the commingling observation of blindingly oblivious sunspot activity and late period Spaceman 3 prescription drug abuse through the tremolo-vibration oscillation and luminous minimalism. Yup, it's a limited pressing. Something like 40 copies.
More electrified ragas from Earth Jerks, who now present themselves as the duo of Chris Dixon and Noel Harmonson. Both of these characters have long been part of the San Francisco scene with Dixon operating in the spaztastic spockmorgue calvacade which spawned Death Sentence Panda, Murder Murder, Total Shutdown, Cops, etc. and Harmonson is the much-revered knob twiddler from Comets On Fire and Sic Alps. The kosmische tumble for drone-on guitar and drone-on electronics drive the coyly named "Fighting A War We Can't Win" -- a long-form piece of undulating tone, fuzz, and blur that's as martial in demeanor as a ruby-red sunrise. An equally idiosyncratic title graces the toothsome minimalist fragment of "The People's Poet Is Dead." Poetic and concise for sure but hardly a funereal bone in its body, this languid duet for electronics and guitars swirling in the same universe of post-lysergic / astral projection wash conjured by Popul Vuh, Cluster, Manuel Gottsching, and whoever your favorite Krautrock magician may be at the moment. Mr. Dixon did pass on the VERY LAST copies of the first Earth Jerks discs for those of you who may have missed out on that one earlier. File #04 too is a super tiny run, and we may not be so lucky in the future.
Missive number six from Chris Dixon's Computer Tapes and his Earth Jerks project, now a fully fledged duo with Noel Harmonson (Comets On Fire, etc.), with the two method acting over overdriven organs, tone generation, feedback guitar harmonics, and a couple of pots of tea - all of which expressing the clarity of a focused mind that then slips down the rabbit hole of innervoid delirium. It's a braindrain, psychedelic fug from Earth Jerks, of sweeping ur-drone filtering along the lines of the mystical fog cast by Pink Floyd on "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" minus the hushed liturgy of Syd Barrett. Dixon is quick to point out that any comparisons to Popul Vuh, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze are missing the mark a bit; so we'll only allude to these in passing even as we drool over these fancifully crunchy drones bringing forth darkly ecstatic melodies that slowly unfurl on the 8 minute "Just Because It Isn't Mine, That Doesn't Make It Yours", followed by the Leslie speaker discombobulation of psychoactive holy minimalism quickly mapped out on three short tracks that have more of a Phill Niblock doing a 7" feel. Yeah, of course, it's great; and limited to just 100 copies, but now pressed on pro-duplicated cd-rs.
The latest missive from local dronelord/soundscaper Earthen Sea, comes in the form of this sonic homage to our very own Ocean Beach, although the sonic picture these two sidelong sprawls paint is altogether much more abject and sinister than the sunny seaside one might imagine. Sure, it's foggy and cold, but here that overcast sky manifest as swirling sheets of soft grey shimmer and bleary blustery thrum, all smeared into softly heaving swells. And that sound is infused with deep shadows, to these ears, this is might be the sound of Ocean Beach, but some post apocalyptic beach devoid of humanity, the earth scorched and mankind extinct, the sand littered with ash and burnt husks of unknown creatures, the water black with blood and rife with mysterious detritus, the sky choked with roiling clouds, the light filtering through hazy and blurry, almost like the whole world is underwater. This beautifully bleak soundscape is laced with strange staticky percolations, glitchy shards that fuse into a sort of abstract skeletal rhythm, a sort of abstract minimal krautrock melted down into something oozing and primordial. A haunting soundworld of sci-fi, kraut-age, black ambient drones, buried murky rhythms, and muted minor key melodies. Awesome!
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!! Each one featuring a unque cover that's individually hand painted!!
Another batch of WAY too limited cassette releases from Twonicorn, whose releases seem to go out of print in the blink of an eye. This time we managed to get even more copies, in fact we took most of the copies from each pressing, but considering the fact that the pressing usually run between 40 and 100 copies, you know these won't last long either way.
Earthen Sea, what a killer name, however, the tape's title, Seeking Enlightenment 12 Oz. At A Time, had us expecting some sort of lo-fi, damaged and drunken sludgerock slugfest, but nothing could be further from the truth. Earthen Sea craft delicately developing drones, that begin life as a droney ultra minimal krautrock / postrock hybrid, with lots of swirling low end, pulsing melodies, propulsive barely there rhythms, a murky kraut jam like listening to Neu! practice six floors below you in an -almost- soundproof rehearsal room. Those various elements eventually begin to come apart, and blur together, becoming a thick tangled swirl of low end grind and throbbing, rumbling thrum, shot through with subtle sonic colors and glistening melodic sparkles. Nice.
LIMITED TO 90 COPIES. We got 25 and we will not be able to get any more.
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A gorgeous new batch of hazy transcendental keyboard dronemusic from this SF based one man band, once a member of Mi Ami and Black Eyes, although you'd never know it from these two sprawling minimalist explorations.
Unlike the propulsive almost krautrock-ish murk of his first tape, Waves is more a sort of barely moving, lush layered lysergic new age, the sort of keyboard kosmische that folks into Emeralds and Expo 70 should go nuts for. The melodies are subtle, the movements muted, the various tones and overtones float and hover and wash into one another like, well, waves. There's definitely a Niblock vibe too, but filtered through a more modern lo-fi space drone floorcore aesthetic. The A side for all its spaciness and dreaminess is also thick, and in its own way heavy the sounds raw, and a little abrasive, it's mesmerizing and ambient, but also intense.
The B side however is WAY more ethereal and ephemeral, those same waves of sound are now more monochromatic, pulsing in slow motion, woozy swells of muddy melody that mask a barely there propulsion, the track seems to fade and crumble, before finally switching gears as a distant melodic hum, the backdrop to a mysterious set of field recordings, a warm whirring bed for a soft swirling clouds of Philip Jeck like click and hiss. Nice.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!! We have less than a dozen, and once these are gone then that's it...
Gorgeous split lp from these two drone combos, the A side is a single sprawling bit of foggy sonic murk, from local outfit Earthen Sea, whose most recent release, the Ocean Beach tape, channeled the cloudy coastline of SF in slow moving fields of softly psychedelic fug, and ES's sidelong track here explores much of the same, adding some deep low end pulsations to the mix, buried under layers of grey thrum and softly swirling melodies, a gradually unfurling, smoldering landscape of longform tones, and slow shifting layers, moody and muted, ethereal and gauzy, a hazy meditative bit of minimal mesmer, slightly sinister, the lush chordal swells swaddled in shadows, a ghostly overcast creep, that slips into something much more pretty and prismatic for the last few minutes.
Insect Factory, another one man band, changes things up dramatically, opening with a seriously sharp sine wave tone, keening and high pitched, while all around it weird little glitches and bits of fragmented melody bob and weave, tranced out in its own way, that main tone, soon seeming to fragment, and eventually joined by more tones, all tangled and gristly, glitchy and distorted, eventually erupting into what sounds like a wild blown out psychedelic swirl, reminding us of Amps For Christ or Dan Friel, crunchy and caustic and weirdly melodic, and ultimately strangely and inexorably mesmerizing. That abrasiveness is balanced by the much more tranquil and brief coda/closer, which is softly reverbed guitar, drifting in a field of barely there hum and shimmer, a sort of modern Appalachian solo guitar drift, that's really quite lovely, and nicely balances the crunch of the first track.
Fantastic stuff from both groups, and yeah, probably quite limited...
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Just a few weeks back we had the pleasure of hosting an in-store performance by godly guitarist and all around nice guy Isaiah Mitchell, playing solo, just guitar and singing, doing songs from his Black Elk Medicine Band project, some Golden Void stuff too, and he was GREAT. But even better is hearing him in full flight with the rhythm section from his mega power trio Earthless backing him up, as presented here on this brand new full-length from that band, their third studio slab. As expected, it's another excessive exercise in badass bluesy stoner jamming, Isaiah and Co. just wailing away endlessly, the bass laying it down solid, the drums rolling and tumbling, the guitar soaring and searing, these three latter day heavy hippie rockers achieving total psych-fuzz nirvana for the duration. 4 songs, 65+ minutes, utter transportational heaviness, epic and all-instrumental, rendered with taste and chops off the charts. Mitchell sure shreds, but in a psych not metal sense of shred, very sixties sounding, the jamming getting moody and mellow on the likes of "Equus October", but mainly very fluidly ripping and riffing, the album's rockin' tour-de-force being the super energetic title track, first previewed on the band's Live At Roadburn recording, here taking up a whole side-and-a-half, truly a jam "For The Ages". File alongside our recent Record Of The Week by Fuzz, for nonstop guitar-heavy psych-rock awesomeness.
Note: we're running too low on the vinyl right now to list that format too, but hopefully next time...
Ever been to an Earthless show? If yes, then you probably are already in line to purchase this. You know that San Diego's Earthless are a live band first and foremost, their heavy, psychedelic stoner rock instrumentals best experienced at appropriate (loud) volume as they unfurl and unfold, lead guitarist Isaiah Mitchell's epic beyond-blues soloing seemingly never-ending, lifting the proceedings far, far out into space. He's not a guitar hero, but a guitar demi-god!
This double disc document captures the trio blowing minds at last year's Roadburn Festival over in Holland (good place for 'em). Disc one features a massive piece (or two?) entitled "Blue/From The Ages", which is as far as we can tell a massive improv jam exclusive to this recording, while disc two consists of versions of "Godspeed" and "Sonic Prayer" from their last album Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky... again, though, the disc is one long track, the two songs flowing together...
The sound is excellent, the band is on fire, it's prime Earthless action all right, wailin' away awesomely and endlessly. The energy level somehow builds and builds, this band intense and heavy and locked in tight, all night it would seem. Must have been a great show, well we KNOW it was a great show, these discs are the proof. Any Earthless fan should get this, likewise if you're into, say, Acid Mothers Temple, get this and you just may have new favorite band.
(And how come they weren't one of the bands on those 7" Hawkwind tributes we're also listing this week? That would have been good!)
Their indubitably stonery name Earthless makes sense right away, when you consider how much the intro to the first track, "Godspeed", sounds like a spaceship taking off. Then the riffs kick in, aggressively establishing a higher orbit from whence their guitarist can launch further into space, continuing onward and upward into the "cosmic sky" to free minds, asses, whathaveyou.
Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky (sounds like an Uli Jon Roth album title!) is the second album from San Diego's heaviest and most mindblowing instrumental psych guitar-centric power trio, featuring Hot Snakes drummer Mario Rubalcaba, bassist Mike Eginton, and most crucially, guitarist Isaiah Mitchell. They're known for the eternal jamming of their live shows, Isaiah soloing endlessly (like, for a whole hour!) and seemingly effortlessly, channelling the spirits of guitar heroes past like Jimi Hendrix and Randy Holden. Trower, Roth, West, Marino, Iommi too. Dude's such a great guitarist!!! And the rhythm section here backs him up oh-so-solidly.
As with their previous record, you get two "side-long" pieces, starting with the five-part "Godspeed", nearly 21 minutes that turn up the Breadfan and get really intensely Metallica'd after some prog-jazz organ flourishes, with galloping chug awesomeness in sorta Champsy vein (and it's Tim Green from the Fucking Champs guesting on organ on this track, he recorded this album at his Louder Studios). Yeah it gets remarkably metal, then swings back to the Hendrix/Holden style wailing.
If all this too muchness ain't enough, then there's another, even slightly longer track following, "Sonic Prayer", in which Earthless continue to outdo all yer Hendrix, Hawkwind, Flower Travellin' Band, psych guitar freakout fantasies. And heavy as it all is, it's also super smooth sailing. Perhaps imagine a jammier Mammatus, or a more disciplined Acid Mothers Temple, or a more expansive Stinking Lizaveta...
Also, we've mentioned before that fans of the Groundhogs should like this band, and what do we find here? As a special cd-only bonus, there's an extra 4 minutes 36 seconds of Earthless covering "Cherry Red" from the Groundhogs' masterpiece of prog-blues heaviness, 1971's Split. Of course they do it perfectly, with spot-on vocals, even!
Their new label Tee Pee has done this up right, putting the cd in mini-lp sleeve gatefold packaging, with suitable hippy-skull artwork inside, very convincingly like it's an Akarma label reissue of some lost treasure from long ago, kinda like it sounds.
Onetime Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden once dedicated an entire song ("Guitar Song") from his legendary solo album Population II to a paean about how much he loves to hear the sound of an electric guitar wailing. Well we'd bet he'd LOVE San Diego's Earthless (a trio consisting of the drummer from Hot Snakes and Clikatat Ikatowi, a guitarist who tours with Nebula, and another dude on bass). They're all about loud wailing psych guitar over stoned and stoner grooves. So, for Randy and any others that share his enthusiasm, Earthless offer up their debut cd here, featuring two looong tracks (42 minutes total) recorded live in the studio ('cause that's how they do it). Track one, "Flower Travelin' Man" opens with a throbbing bass line that kinda sounds like a stoned Steve Harris galloping into Geezer Butler territory. Then the Hawkwind starts blowing, spacey FX in full effect, and that aforementioned wailing electric guitar takes center stage for a mamma-lamma-jamma that you'd have to be squarely square not to love. Then, the second track, "Lost In The Cold Sun", actually heavies things up even more, getting dirgier and doomier and downier (I mean, more downer). No complaints from us. The Gravity label suggests that any fans of Hawkwind, Sabbath, Amon Duul II and The Groundhogs would dig this -- we'd agree, and not just 'cause if you're a fan of those bands chances are you're already suitably toked up. We'd also add the likes of Pharaoh Overlord, Comets On Fire and Dead Meadow to that list. Definitely gonna go see 'em next time they play up here!
NB. by the way, you may have noticed that in many of AQ's reviews of "psychedelic" "stoner" music, we often extol the glorious drugginess of said music, which is funny as most of our reviewers don't themselves indulge in the (ab)use of drugs (our own Andee has never even had single sip of beer or toke of pot, ever!), nor do they necessarily believe that the potential listener for whom they are writing need to do so to enjoy the music, in fact some of us feel like a huge slab of smoke-y, trippy, druggy psych rock is all you need to get musically wasted!
Thee eternal jamming guitar godliness of Earthless is in full effect here, on this now expanded early daze document of this psychedelic power trio's semi-improvised live prowess, where they're at their best, after all, as hopefully you yourself have witnessed. We certainly have, upon many a deafening occasion.
Sonic Prayer Jam was recorded live at The Casbah in Earthless's hometown of San Diego in 2004, originally self-released by the band on cd-r, then as a limited 10" record on Gravity the next year, which we listed back when it came out, noting that guitarist Isaiah Mitchell sure can ably and endlessly peel off the electric acid blues leads, never failing to impress! (Department of understatement, there.)
But, y'know, they couldn't fit the whole show on that 10", which is long out of print anyway, so Earthless initiates will be stoked that they've now put it out again on 12" vinyl, and cd, so you can hear that magical Casbah performance uncut in its entirety. Any fan of the band will want this, and raw and live as it is, it also wouldn't be a bad place to start with them either. Totally captures their heavy cosmic vibes, man!!
The "Sonic Prayer Jam" itself, a lumbering astral rock n' roll voyage that makes the Acid Mothers Temple's usual output seem tame, takes up all of side 1 and most of side 2 on the vinyl with its pounding FX laden onslaught; on the cd, it's also in two parts, 32 minutes and 17 minutes long respectively. And then, after that devastating Hawkwinded headbang, for an encore Earthless unleash a killer cover of "Cherry Red" by one of their inspirations, '70s UK blues-prog heavies The Groundhogs, complete with high pitched vocal holler as per the original, which they do really well, funny since they're otherwise all-instrumental (a studio version of "Cherry Red" also appeared as cd-only bonus track on their Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky release, this is of course a liver and rawer rendition).
So, definitely an improved version of this urgently rockin' Earthless essential, never before on cd either. Regarding the vinyl version, the ones we have are the limited edition colored kind (green, in various shades), while they last.
We're looking forward to the upcoming full-length studio album on Tee Pee from these San Diegan psychedelic blown-out blooze mongers, but we also know that they're essentially at their best as a live act, as documented here with the two side-long, semi-improvised heavy jams on this 10" vinyl-only release. Guitarist Isaiah Mitchell can ably and endlessly peel off the electric acid blues leads, never failing to impress!
Got a couple copies of this under-the-radar (our radar anyway) 2012 release, a three way split that's pretty self-explanatory in regards to about why you might want it, bearing the following 3 slogans on the cover: "Electric Rock N' Roll", "It's Outta This World!" and "Jams To Groove Your Soul!".
Cosmic jammers Earthless offer up a 23+ minute live improvisation that takes up all of side A, while side B has Wino's band Premonition 13 doing their stoner thing for over 14 minutes, and then blues rockers Radio Moscow follow that with two relatively brief (in comparison) numbers, around six minutes each. Fans of any/all might wanna consider grabbing this. Includes download, we're told.
Jam. Jamming. Jammy jamming. Jam jam jam jam jamming. Man!! This is EXACTLY what you think it would be, the instrumental psychedelic power trio Earthless, featuring guitar hero Isaiah Mitchell, jamming with another instrumental psychedelic power trio, Heavy Blanket, featuring guitar hero J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. And it was recorded live at the Roadburn 2012 festival, in Holland, so they are indeed "in a Dutch haze" if you know what they mean.
One looooong track, about an hour, jamming hard from start to finish (does it ever?), wild and wailing, they NEVER let up, it's kind of crazy impressive (although anyone familiar with Earthless will not be surprised!). So just imagine the longest, most howling-est, heaviest, stoned-to-the-max Earthless jam EVER, but times two. Twice as much guitar anyway (Mascis and Mitchell killing it). The rhythm section is actually the drummer from Earthless and the bassist from Heavy Blanket, the remaining guys kicking back somewhere we assume. Heck, if we'd been there, we're not sure we'd have been able to stay on our feet the whole time, it's pretty overwhelming... but at home, ensconced in the comfort of one's own easy chair or bed, perhaps, yeah, it's a nice trip! Seemingly endless infinite jammage, outer space exploring / inner mind expanding psychedelic SHRED. Kawabata Makoto, eat your heart out!!
Seriously, for the most stoned fans of Earthless, Heavy Blanket, Acid Mothers Temple, Fuzz, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, Golden Void, etc. etc. Great cover art by our pal Tim Lehi too, by the way.
Not sure if this is part 4, or just the first in a new multi part epic, hardly matters, what does matter is, this is another glorious expansive collection of meditative psychedelic abstract dronefolk ambience. Every High Mountain Tempel disc we're reviewed thus far has gotten played to death here, and this one doesn't appear to be any different. Well, at least in that respect. In one distinct way it is very different, HMT are not going it alone this time. They've assembled a pretty impressive collection of sonic alchemists and musical conjurers to help with this ritual, Isis Aquarian from the Source Family, Charles Curtis from La Monte Young's Just Alap Raga Ensemble, and two crews from the UK we've never heard of, Earthling Society and Astarism, but even with all those cooks in the kitchen, HMT and friends have managed to weave another dark minimal masterpiece, all hushed barely there guitar shimmer, drifting whispered vocals, delicate crystalline melodies, dense swirls of piano, warm swells of tape hiss, mysterious voices and field recordings, whirring organ, bowed steel strings... so lovely.
If the liner notes are to be believed, two of the tracks feature Earthling Society on their own, and those tracks do sound different, much less free and sprawling, a bit more structured, like seventies UK acid folk, swirling and melodic and quite lovely. The final two tracks find the two groups in full on collaborative mode, and the gears shift to something much more space rocky and Hawkwindy, all blissed out and heart-of-the-sun, until the final track which is a strummy, delicate, moody chill out closer, a sort of dour doom folk drift, that makes a perfect ending.
Super nice packaging, silkscreened oversized 4 panel sleeve, white on black, with the cd-r affixed to the inside. And of course, SUPER LIMITED!
Beta-lactem Ring Records tells us that Earthmonkey is the work of Steven Stapleton and Peat Bog, who had also been responsible for a few odd psych / prog meanderings as The Inflatable Side Show. However, Stapleton is only mentioned in the 'thank you' credits, unless he's taken the unlikely pseudonym of Ian Cahill. There are definitely plenty of the far-out, psychedelically damaged references that one would expect from a psych / prog album that Stapleton might appear on. The ghosts of Faust Tapes, Amon Duul II, Ennio Morricone, and Jac Berrocal are all present on this album of groovy, elliptical patterns and extended, if mopey freak-outs. The songs are pretty good, but why all the cornball sax solos?
The hard rockin' biker doom metal outfit led by Spirit Caravan bassist Dave Sherman drops their debut full-length on the ever-reliable Southern Lord label. Sherman sings in Earthride, leaving the bass to one of his bandmates, and his gravelly voice gives this more of a crusty Motorhead vibe than the Wino-fronted Spirit Caravan, and the music is also a tad more raw and pummelling. We liked their previous 4-song ep, and this album is no let down. Heavy duty 70's style sludge stomp for all you long-haired, tattooed rockers out there. (Or, if that description doesn't fit you, this will still appeal to your *inner* long-haired tattooed rocker self.) Nothing at all "new" here, but if brutal stoner rock is what you crave, Earthride delivers. (And the booklet graphics do too, with closeup photos of the band's favorite amps, and a "Master Of Reality" cover parody on the back emphasizing their allegiance to Sabbath.)
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Four-song ep from the bass player of Spirit Caravan's other stoner rock/doom metal project. With his rough, cigs-and-whisky damaged voice (like a rawer version of Spirit Caravan singer Wino's doom-croon) and heavy riffing, this should be an almost mandatory buy for those into that band and others of this genre...
San Francisco's Earwicker produce sounds that seem to lurk up from deep beneath the city streets. Damp, dank, and ominous.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Twelve variations on a blunted hip hop theme. Funkstorung has had the golden touch recently for the remix with superb remixes of Bjork and Wu-Tang, their warbling breaks and delicate re-interpretation on the original melody out-Autechres Autechre (whose remix here is somewhat disappointing). Other standouts are the jazz fusion monolith from Squarepusher, the alien downtempo breakbeats from Trapazoid and Freeform, and Herbaliser's tried and true noirish beats.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
"Bilal Abdurahman's East New York Ensemble de Music emerged out of the fertile, cross-fertilizing community of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, where African, West Indian & black American cultures converged. This rare 1974 disc, originally issued on Folkways, is back in print for the first time in nearly 30 years and what a gem it is! At The Helm is a gorgeously careening collection of indo-jazz that draws heavily on the near and far eastern sounds of Turkey, Korea, North Africa, India and China and threads them into a distinctively forceful Black Jazz idiom. In his lifetime, Bilal had always referred to this meld as a kind of 'Black Magical Music' and the tight, energetic compositions on this unsung masterpiece only supports the elevated, otherworldly claims. Take one listen to their rendition of Freddie Hubbard's beautiful 13 minute epic, 'Sun Flower', and you'll hear why this is a must for fans of rare groove & spiritual black jazz."
Of the many, many prog rock reissues out there, here's a recent one we HAD to list, the 1969 debut album from this UK band. Why? Well, track two "Isadora" reminds us a bit of the flute-laced pastoral pagan-folk ceremony of AQ faves Comus! Elsewhere this band unleash psychedelic freakouts amidst jazz-inflected grooves, wielding electric violin, distorted guitar, and "Sumerian saxophones" in a mixture of rocked out fiddle frenzies, tricky time signatures, folky vocal melodies, and moody Eastern atmospheres. It's a mystical-Mingus hybrid, as played by a rock band, their wide ranging non-rock inspirations also allowing for one track, "Communion", to be based on a Bartok string quartet.
We'd compare 'em to contemporaneous acts like early King Crimson, and violin heavies High Tide, though these guys seem a bit more, uh, playful than either of those groups. Despite (or because of) such songs as "In The Stable Of The Sphinx", East of Eden's Ancient Egypt schtick has got to be a little tongue in cheek - check out the band photos, they simply can't be serious in that King Tut drag they're wearing! Their music certainly sounds like it comes from Swinging Sixties London, rather than out of a dusty sarcophagus. It's groovy, baby. Ferinstance, the riffy "Centaur Woman" is like Cream with bluesy harp seguing into an eruption of full on free improv horns, and also boasts an extensive bass solo (hence the tagline for that one: "half-woman, half-beast, half bass-guitar"). If they had let themselves go much further out, maybe they'd have started sounding like Japan's Food Brain from around the same time. But instead East Of Eden stick with what might play in the pop scene of the day, being exotic but not overindulgently experimental.
This nice new reish includes three previously unreleased bonus tracks - two demo versions and a cover of "Eight Miles High"!
Talk about obscure funk unearthed, this one takes the cake! East Of Underground were a group of US Army servicemen stationed in Germany who recorded an amazing record of Soul and Funk covers in 1971 in the Armed Forces Network studios in Frankfurt. Who knew there was a soul counterpart to the beloved Monks. Comprised of covers of tracks by folks like Sly & The Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and Funkadelic, this isn't merely some servicemen who worshiped the soul and funk greats of the time, these guys had major talent of their own. Vocal melodies delivered with sweet perfection, tight and gritty instrumentation and a sense of ease and conviction that's usually absent in cover songs. Only one known copy of the original LP was kept by the Army but luckily it was hunted down and used as the master for this disc, which marks the first release on the new musical wing of Wax Poetics, the amazing magazine dedicated to all things soul and funk. A pretty great way to start their record label as East Of Underground oozes with charisma and killer chops.
Surprise! Here's the new album from East River Pipe aka one man band F.M. Cornog. Once again an ERP album has been looonnnng in the making - four years this time around. Its predecessor The Gasoline Age took three. At this rate, we should expect the next in 2008! That said, this album proves that good things come to those who wait. The splendid, but oddly titled Garbageheads On Endless Stun should satiate ERP fans for quite a while. Let us savor what we have in front of us, shall we? The album kicks off with the lush wistful beauty "Where Does All The Money Go?" and continues steadily on from there. If there's one thing you can say about Mr. Cornog, it's that although he may take his sweet time crafting each album, once it's comin' out of your stereo it all seems very natural. Not at all overdone. His slightly ragged voice - a little bit like a cross between Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and The Replacements' Paul Westerberg - brings a nice contrast to the somber, dreamy proceedings.
The shadowy chamber pop and hushed folky twang scene that surrounded his vocals is one of swirling string sounds, heaving accordion, and twinkling guitars. A very fine fifth full length!
More wistful and melancholy reverb-drenched bedroom jangle from this New Jersey misanthrope.
The liner notes for Eastanburia's first and possibly only record state that "there was no intention other than having a fun reunion." This vinyl-only limited edition Japanese import picture disc release definitely lives up to that claim, being a percussion and vocal jam session from and all star line-up: Yoshimi P-We (Boredoms / OOIOO), Atr (Boredoms), David Nuss (No Neck
So is it a novelty record? Mmmm... Yes. As the title implies, "Dub Side of the Moon" is in fact a reggae rendition of Pink Floyd's seminal concept album. True to the original though, the Easy Star All-Stars have recreated the record in its entirety -- segues, back up diva vocals and all. If nothing else the All-Stars at least warrant an E for effort. And maybe a bit more. The production is excellent, not cheesy in the slightest. The rhythm section is top notch, and they use several classic Jamaican rhythms -- a lot of Sly & Robbie's Rockers variants here. Actually most of the musical transliterations are successful in their way -- much of Gilmore's guitar solos are replaced by horns and melodica, which works much better for reggae anyhoo. If anything it is some of the staccato vocal deliveries that sell the version short. The one exception to this is Ranking Joe's toasting over "Time" which is great. Kind of wish they'd just let him toast over the entire album. And in case anyone out there was wondering whether this version is Wizard Of Oz compatible, there are easy to follow instructions included to insure proper synchronization with the video.
Record number three from these 'shitgaze' noise poppers, and like the last two, it's another collection of fantastically fractured jangle pop, but this time around, their sound seems to have maybe moved beyond the shitgaze classification (that they share with Times New Viking and Psychedelic Horseshit among others), with what might be their most polished record yet. BUT, it's really all relative, and as if to demonstrate that fact, a dreamy Brian Eno beholden pop gem like opener "Space Academy", with its warm fuzzy guitars, crooned dramatic vocals, shuffling motorik rhythm, and dreamy sun dappled jangle, will suddenly splinter into a twisted squall of atonal psych guitar tangle, or woozy detuned stumble, proving that no matter how good these guys get, that will always be a huge part of their sound, a sort of ramshackle, on-the-verge-of-collapse chaos that seems to be ever present, but which suits them big time. And they've found the perfect home for this new record on Woodsist, their sound janglier and fuzzier and hookier than ever, sounding a bit like the Woods drug addled older brothers, taking that group's warm classic twang flecked jangle, and dipping it in LSD and rolling it around in some grit and grime.
While most of the tracks stick to what could be considered the Eat Skull weirdo pop formula, they have never shied away from doing whatever the fuck they want, like "How Do You Know When To Say Goodnite?" here, which sounds a bit like Eat Skull via Sun Araw, the vibe al prismatic and dubbed out, skittery and electronic, swirling and sunshiney, the Eno vibe still present, due in no small part to the vocals, but also the weirdly kitchen sink sounding lo-fi pop alchemy going on, hazy and lysergic, and definitely dementedly dreamy.
And so it goes, the band up for anything, be it warped jangle pop one second, dirgey garage-doom drama (holy shit, "Stupid Moon" is a creeping moody stunner), ethereal cosmic synthscapery or fuzzy, reverb drenched garage rock, all held together by a pop streak a mile wide, and a surprisingly deft hand at pop songsmithery, that they seem to have dedicated their entire career to subverting, and thankfully for us, have been failing brilliantly!
Includes a download code.
Another blast of blown out noise pop from aQ faves Eat Skull, the title track a damaged chunk of psychedelic crunch called "Jerusalem Mall", that is in fact about a mall, judging from the lyrics, and is super catchy, super fuzzy and ultra distorted with a Stooges-y main riff, fuzzed out bass, shouted vox, but is mostly swallowed up by non stop wild and squiggly, atonal and off kilter psychedelic guitar leads, super saturated and in-the-red, crumbling with distortion, spidery and serpentine, the song is a non stop squirming tangled ball of punk pop crush, somewhere between classic old school punk rock and Sebadoh at their most caveman.
The flipside starts off with the exact opposite, a summery slice of bubblegummy pure pop, all jangly and shimmery and strummy, with Beach Boys harmonies and big chiming guitars, but that quickly give way to the record's short sharp closer, a churning swirl of downtuned blur, amp melting buzz, buried vocals, a punked out sludgey lo-fi buzzpop blowout. Cool. And features some twisted (and in one instance, Slayer-style) cover art!
While we're not always fans of made-up genres, which we know is ironic since we make up LOTS of genres, some rankle more than others. The most obvious being 'metal-gaze'. And what's even worse is when one catches on to the point that you sort of HAVE to use it. We've used metal-gaze once or twice, but we much prefer genres like doomdeathdrone or wooden metal.
Gaze is probably the most abused descriptor suffix in made up genres, anything slightly blissy or blown out gets tagged with the -gaze suffix. Rockabilly-gaze, adult contemporary-gaze. Sound silly yeah? Well, metal-gaze is not all that different. But recently a handful of our favorite bands all gathered under a new genre, one we're sort of tickled by, and might be forced to appropriate. SHITGAZE. How great is that, blissy and druggy, but lo-fi and crappy sounding. Times New Viking. Psychedelic Horseshit. Total shitgaze. Got a nice ring to it, pretty evocative, and not all that far off the mark. So the latest band we feel belongs among the ranks of the shitgaze elite is the awesomely named Eat Skull from Portland, who offer up the same sort of fractured damaged noise drenched pop as TNV and PH, but with their own twist. They definitely sound a bit like the bastard sons of vintage Guided By Voices, there is some solid hook filled pop in these here tracks, but it's nearly obscured by super jagged crumbling distorted guitars, howled vocals recorded into a dictaphone, trash can drums, all recorded so in-the-red, your speakers might melt. The thing about Eat Skull is they seem less arty and more punky, more rambunctious and random. Offering up spurts of furious noisepunk one minute, weird twangy jangle the next, then some awesome perfect pop the next, but always buried under layers of grit and buzz and tape hiss, fuzz all over the place, tons of high end, as if the bass knob was broken off so they just replaced it with ANOTHER treble knob, thick swaths of surfy organ, blown out until it's a wall of warbly sound, lots of random tape loops everywhere, overdubbed vocals way up in the mix, totally unhinged and off kilter and ultra chaotic, but catchy and wild and sweaty and over the top and fun as fuck!
For fans of the above mentioned bands as well as stuff like Sic Alps, Oh Sees, Coachwhips, Strapping Fieldhands.
ALL HAIL THE NEW WAVE OF SHITGAZE!
This single actually came out before the recent III lp, but we only now managed to get our hands on enough copies to list. When it did pop up a few months ago, it was the first anyone had heard from these guys after a fairly long silence. And while we've already raved about III, this single was a welcome return. The weird thing is that this single seems to be the last hurrah of the OLD Eat Skull, total shitgaze bliss, urgently strummed acoustic guitars, stumbling drum pound, wild squalls of psychedelic guitar noise, yowled vocals, goofy lyrics, all wrapped around some pretty crazy catchy melodies, in a way it's the perfect link between the noisier off kilter Eat Skull of the past and the more polished poppiness of III. The first track on the B side definitely sounds like with a little polish it would have fit perfectly on III, but here it's delivered in all its raw, low fidelity glory, and it sounds as good as ever. And the second track on the B side is from a Volar records label comp, and definitely displays a softer side of Eat Skull, all Casio drum machine, shimmery acoustic guitar, lilting melody, really pretty.
All in all, a pretty killer single from a band we dig a lot, and considering it's been out for a while, best grab one quick before they're gone for good!
Something happened to Eat Skull on the way to making Wild And Inside. It seems like only yesterday we were extolling their ramshackle fucked up-ness, their last record Sick To Death, a serious bid to rule the burgeoning 'shit-gaze' scene, populated by folks like Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit, and similarly fucked up noisepop deconstructionists. So we were sort of expecting Wild And Inside to be even MORE damaged and fractured, fucked up and noisy, but instead, it's jam packed with perfect pop gems, lo-fi for sure, and definitely still ramshackle, but jangly and catchy and dripping with irresistible hooks.
Similar to how Further worshipped unabashedly at the altar of the Beach Boys on their Golden Grimes record, on Wild And Inside, Eat Skull seem to be flitting from pop group to pop group, whether it's Guided By Voices, the Lemonheads, Strapping Fieldhands, dour eighties new wave or those Nuggets psych pop collections, it seems like the band spent all the time between records just absorbing all sorts of nineties indie rock, old school jangle pop, classic power pop, and whatever else they could lay their ears on, and now they're just letting it all sort of ooze out, and in the process they've most definitely made it their own.
In interviews, Eat Skull frontman Rob Enbom claims, this is what they were shooting for all along, that the first record sounded the way it did because they were broke and were stuck with super shitty equipment, and while that may be true to a certain extent, there's some seriously superior pop smithery happening on Wild And Inside, it's not hard to imagine what this record might have sounded like with all the grit and grime cleared away, and if they had recorded in a real studio, but who the hell would want to hear that? Eat Skull sound fine just the way they are, noisy and poppy and sloppy and lo-fi, every song a gorgeously hook filled sunshine-y effects laden fractured and fuzzy noise pop gem.
Folks who were into the sheer mayhem and caustic crumbling noise damage of the first record might be a bit disappointed, but so what, there's plenty of that to be found elsewhere these days, for the rest of us, it's kind of refreshing to get a glimpse of the pop magic so often obscured.
