Yawning Sons are Worthy of Ceremony
Posted in Reviews on June 30th, 2009 by H.P. Taskmaster
You can make whatever sound comparisons or analogies you want, to my ears, the debut from Yawning Sons is principally two things. First: mesmerizing. Second: warm. The band is end result of a fortunate ocean-crossing collaboration between Californian desert rock legend Gary Arce of Yawning Man and the UK?s Sons of Alpha Centauri. Presumably they went with Yawning Sons because ?Arce & Sons? sounded too much like they were electricians. In any case, their debut, Ceremony to the Sunset, released by Australia?s Lexicon Devil, is seven cuts of mostly instrumental experimental post-rock psychedelic hypnosis, with guest vocal spots from Fatso Jetson?s Mario Lalli, Wendy Rae Fowler (Mark Lanegan Band) and Scott Reeder spread throughout to act as trail markers.
The story goes that Arce and the four-piece Sons of Alpha Centauri had never met before he flew to the UK to produce a record for them, but when he arrived they jammed and over the course of a week, wrote and recorded Ceremony to the Sunset instead. Not to say the narrative lacks plausibility (Arce himself recounts it in the liner notes), but if that?s how it went down, the chemistry between Arce and Sons of Alpha Centauri members Nick Hannon (bass), Marlon King (guitar), Stevie B. (drums) and Blake (textures) must have been immediate. Otherwise the project would?ve fallen flat entirely — or, more likely, it wouldn?t have happened in the first place — and the intricate melodies that permeate ?Tomahawk Watercress? and closer ?Japanese Garden? would have nowhere near as much power as they do. Ceremony to the Sunset is a patient album, but it feels fast, spontaneous and exciting, striking a rare balance.
If you can?t tell what kind of chicanery Dallas fuzz worshippers Wo Fat are getting up to by the art above and track names like ?The Spheres Beyond? and ?El Culto de la Avaricia,? please check your Kyuss CDs at the door. The Orange amped, moss-covered stoner jams start and don?t stop on their Brainticket debut (second LP overall), 
Psychedelonaut, a record that begs for the warmth of vinyl like a neglected dog needs water.
It seems kind of quick, but as much as it exaggerates and hyperbolizes, the PR wire very rarely ever lies (except for those penis enlargement pills — what a ripoff!). Here’s the news from Tee Pee Records:
Like an angry Boston Yeti, the trio Black Pyramid emerges with their 
You don’t need me to tell you to go see Nebula, and the good thing about the dates of this US run is that by the time they get going, their new album, Heavy Psych (Tee Pee Records; 
Someone needs to sign this band. Today.
I didn’t even know there was a Salem, Connecticut, let alone a burly heavy rock duo who’d been collectively named ruling monarch of it. King of Salem is comprised of drummer Mike Petrucci and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Simon Tuozzoli — who has played in Vestal Claret, Guerra and Earthlord — and are a sometime-studio project with three releases under their belt in their 11 year 
existence, including the latest, the independently produced?Prophecy, which came out last month in a limited physical pressing of 100 copies each on CD and vinyl. There is a downloadable version as well.
Mania by Swedish rockers Truckfighters — number three on this site’s recent list of the 
Any fans of King Crimson’s earliest days and/or the modern mellotron antics of Steven Wilson-era Opeth or Belgian rockers Hypnos 69’s extra-proggy last record, The Eclectic Measure, will want to catch up with San Diego retro prog (henceforth to be referred to as “reprog” in these pages) containment unit Astra. Their shroomy Rise Above Records debut, The Weirding is a sweetly melodic, intricately-arranged excursion into the ’70s when the ’70s were young and the excesses arena rock had yet to take hold. There are some heavier moments peppered in 
the longer tracks, mostly arriving after sizeable buildups, but even so, it’s countryside prog all the way.
Fact: if Sollubi are at war with it, I’m on their side. Even if it’s an intangible concept. I’d advise anyone who didn’t want to get their skull crushed under the force of high-grade disaffected sludge to align his or herself accordingly, 
because the Pennsylvania/Ohio four-piece belch a 50+ minute, three song hatefest on their full-length debut, At War with Decency (Choking Hazard Records). Stark, drugged and clearly suffering some level of emotional trauma, Sollubi craft songs that, while long, retain their root anger, rather than lose their edge by making some lame attempt at being epic. Combined Eyehategod and Yob? Maybe, if the latter were less cosmic and the former much, much slower.
The Obelisk has received word from confidential sources (okay, it was Kevin Bacon) that famed The Tonight Show sidekick and host of Star Search, Ed McMahon’s death may in fact have been the result of foul play and not the long-reported decline in health previously attributed by the press at large. Our news bureau — against the wishes of The New York Times and the McMahon family — and in the name of the free internet press, is ready to announce that Ed McMahon was actually murdered at the hands of secret underground martial arts organizations.
When Bruce Lee was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1973 to promote Enter the Dragon, McMahon, in a drunken stupor but flailing his fists at lightning speed and with great precision nonetheless, is reported to have challenged the Jeet Kune Do master to a fight to the death in the name of avenging a fallen warrior he alleged Lee to have killed in Hong Kong. Neither Carson nor Tonight Show representatives would respond to our news desk’s calls, but Carson is known to have for years told the story at cocktail parties of the day?McMahon “kicked Lee’s wiry ass.”
Acclaimed NYC visual artist and illustrator Arik Roper’s work has become an essential part of the aesthetic to underground heavy (that’s not to say “stoner”) rock and doom. Posters, album covers, shirt designs for the likes of 
Sleep (both Jerusalem and Dopesmoker), Southern Lord Recordings, Rise Above Records, StonerRock.com, Buzzov*en, Eyehategod, High on Fire, Boris, Ancestors, Mammatus and countless others have made Roper’s trademark epic and highly detailed style a visual staple every bit as important as Orange amps blasting out Sabbath riffs. There are many albums that just wouldn’t be the same without it.
Adaptable and distinctive, he shows not only the technical development attained from his time at New York’s School of the Visual Arts, but a natural talent which can come only with time, practice and innate ability.
Usually when an allegedly limited edition reissue comes out and it’s packing a bonus DVD, it’s a completely skip worthy live set shot on one or two cameras with crappy sound that’s boring as hell. That, or like in the case of Earache’s tackling last year of Cathedral’s 1995 classic, The Carnival Bizarre, it’s all previously released. Review-wise, the second disc obliges a mention and little else. For their remaster of the seminal UK doomers’ 1991 
debut, Forest of Equilibrium, however, the label has included a new 40-minute interview with the band about their career and making this album. Previously unreleased and relevant.
