From the jazzy opening notes of “Spacewulf,” a three-part 12-minute epic the last two parts of which come before the first (which is third — kablooie went my brain), colon-ized Romanian instrumental trio The :Egocentrics make no bones about their love of jamming heavy psychedelia on their debut long player, the comma-less Love Fear Choices and Astronauts. The album’s already been picked up for release by Nasoni Records, bringers of all that is spacey and European, but guitarist Brenn, bassist Jess and drummer Hera (all on a first-name basis) did an issue on their own first, pushing the record’s four tracks the old fashioned way… on MySpace.

If you blinked, you probably missed it, but yes, I did say there are only four tracks on Love Fear Choices and Astronauts, which means The :Egocentrics are bound to be packing some heady expanse in the songs. Sure enough, not a one of them is under 10 minutes, and all four — “Spacewulf,” “20 12,” “Bright Dawn of the Soul” and “Mystic Initiation” — show the expansive influence that acts like Colour Haze (who have vocals, but are given to similar lengthy instrumental passages anyway), 35007 and Rotor have had on the next crop of European stoner rockers. The :Egocentrics and likeminded groups like The Machine from The Netherlands, who also focus more on jams than structure and warmth of atmosphere than tightness of execution, have an analog classic psych feel, but are actually pulling off a style almost entirely modern. Their jams are heavy and driving, but still somehow best experienced as a whole without parsing the component parts or analyzing the experience to death.

It’s hard to say which of these songs reminds me most of Colour Haze, but “20 12” certainly has an All or Tempel feel about it, and since it’s not like The :Egocentrics are trying to say they invented what they’re doing or anything, the similarities don’t necessarily preclude an enjoyable listening experience. With Love Fear Choices and Astronauts, you’re still getting over 46 minutes of spaced-out fuzz jams and there’s no denying that what The :Egocentrics do, they do well. Chances are there aren’t a thousand bands pulling off this sound this well in Romania — even if there’s a vibrant scene there as there seems to be everywhere these days – so Brenn, Jess and Hera carve themselves a niche with these four songs as well, and whatever to everything else. Screw it, enjoy yourself and just listen.

For those begging for a human voice, the closest thing you get is some sampled mind-expansion courtesy of Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), mythologist Joseph Campbell, physicist Max Planck and psychotropic philosopher Terrence McKenna on “Mystic Initiation.” Wrapping your head around what they have to say should easily fill any time and or enjoyment you might otherwise have had in hearing a singer, and by the time they’re all done kneading your brain like so much Play-Doh, you won’t remember anything before that anyway. Which, you know, is good for repeat listens. Keeps things fresh.

What Love Fear Choices and Astronauts lacks in punctuation, it more than makes up for in sincere psychedelic appreciation. If this is the direction European stoner rock is headed in — or maybe we’re witnessing the birth of a new subgenre; stonejam, or something like that — so be it. These young Romanian rockers make an impressive debut and manage to capture what’s best about unhinged and creatively free new school psych jamming without falling into instrumental wankery or pretentious solo clinics. Not much more you could really ask of The :Egocentrics than what they deliver on Love Fear Choices and Astronauts. Maybe some more of the Hammond that shows up on “Bright Dawn of the Soul” — but I have the feeling we don’t really need to ask for that. It’ll be back, I’m sure.

The :Egocentrics on MySpace

Nasoni Records

Tags: Nasoni, Romania, The :Egocentrics, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 2:41 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.